(Picture: ES)
Whatever the state of the market a truly outstanding property will always find a buyer, and often one willing to pay over the odds to own it.
And while buyers have become increasingly nervous as the year has progressed there have been some trend-bucking, outstanding deals struck during 2022, ranging from romantic tiny houses to grand design flights of fancy to island getaways.
Fit for a princess: Ruxley Tower, Surrey
With its white stucco tower and castellations this six-storey home looks like something Rapunzel would call home. The Disneyesque tower was built in 1870 as an extension to a country estate once owned by King Henry VIII and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood rented it for a couple of years after splitting from his wife Jo in 2009. And it would be particularly perfect for summer entertaining on its roof terrace with a bar and stunning views over the surrounding countryside.
The tower, in Claygate, Surrey, was sold in February by John D Wood & Co for £985,000 after 25 viewings.
“The buyer lives abroad and bought it as an investment with a view to returning in the future to make it their home,” said selling agent Andrina Craig.
Treasure Island: Trowlock Island Teddington
Buyers dreaming of getting away from it all scrambled to pick up this two-bedroom cabin-style house on Trowlock Island, a tiny Thames island, just large enough to hold a couple of dozen small houses and the clubhouse of the Royal Canoe Club.
Access to the island is via a chain ferry – a floating platform which operated with a winch handle.
Estate agents RiverHomes sold the house for £545,000, after a frenzy of interest. “It is magical, and so much better than a two-bedroom flat,” explained selling agent Simon Waller.
The property eventually went to a young family who had previously rented on the island.
Gothic oddity: Farm House, Mayfair
This unique flight of architectural fantasy is a little out of place amidst Mayfair’s elegant townhouses. But — and despite its £11m price tag — the half-timbered facade, mullioned windows, and Jacobeanesque vibe of Farm House (actually built in the 1900s) was snapped up in December by British buyers who had long admired it from the outside.
During the 1930s Farm House was owned by socialite Viscountess Thelma Furness, a former mistress of King Edward VIII who introduced him to his future wife, Wallis Simpson. After the Second World War the house was used as a guest house by the American Embassy – John F Kennedy is said to have visited in the early 1960s.
“I have known this house for my entire career in Mayfair and it is one of the most photographed houses in the area,” said selling agent Peter Wetherell.
Head in the clouds: Cloud House, Gospel Oak
Inspired by the Japanese concept of kawaii (cuteness), this pair of pink and blue semi detached houses are an asymmetric architectural fantasy with interiors featuring tones of pink, green, and yellow.
The only catch is the houses are not actually built – yet.
In June a pair of British forty-somethings paid £1m the site in a deal brokered by the Unique Property Company. They will live in one of the houses, while the architects, Peter Morris and Emily Kennedy, will live in the other.
Unsurprisingly the project has already been snapped up for a future episode of Grand Designs.
The good life: Manor Farm, Somerset
With its wilk swimming lake, organic kitchen garden, and private woodland this classic Georgian farmhouse in the village of Thornfalcon, was always going to tick a lot of boxes for a buyer joining the great race for space.
And its immaculate, cottagecore interiors were a big hit with a young London couple with two children who paid just over £3m for the property in a deal brokered by estate agent Jackson-Stops in October.
Small is beautiful: Linden Gardens, Notting Hill
It measures just over 750 sq ft, but what this two-bedroom house lacks in space it makes up for in character. The tiny house has an octagonal footprint and is a real oddity in a street full of elegant villas and tall townhouses. It is thought that it could originally have been built as a summer house serving one of its larger neighbours. The property was sold in September for £1.3m.
“For me this is a truly rare property, a one off which offers a really comfortable and inviting space in a fabulous location in Notting Hill,” said selling agent Matthew Harrop, a director at John D Wood & Co. “With it being well set back from the road it has great privacy making it feel even more special.”
Are they or aren’t they? Stradella Road, Herne Hill
After being unceremoniously booted out of their lavishly wallpapered Downing Street digs Boris and Carrie Johnson were seen out and about hunting for a new home in south-east London over the summer.
The couple were thought to have selected a £3.73m Edwardian villa on this leafy street, causing great consternation amongst the “dogs and sprogs” crowd who have adopted Herne Hill. More recent reports suggest the Johnsons might in fact be interested in a property in Fulham.
Other high profile movers include Sarah Ferguson, who added a £5m Mayfair bolthole to her property portfolio — not to live in (she currently resides at Royal Lodge in Windsor with her ex-husband Prince Andrew and several of the late Queen’s pet corgis) but as a long term investment for her daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie.
And Tom Holland and Zendaya lent their considerable star power to Richmond after buying a six-bedroom house there at the start of the year.
Country cottage – in west London: Weir Cottage, Teddington
The jewel in the crown of the redevelopment of the old Teddington Studios is this four-bedroom former lock keeper’s cottage which later became the studio’s official gatehouse.
Originally put on sale back in 2021 for £3m the house failed to find a buyer but, after the price was trimmed back to £2.265m all that changed said Declan Walsh, of Curchods, the selling agent.
He describes the picture postcard little house as “niche” — at just over 2,200 sq ft it isn’t huge by family home standards, but Weir Cottage does have lashings of unique charm and a riverside garden. The buyers are a pair of London professionals who plan to live in the property once all the paperwork has been completed.
Artist in residence: Hollywood Road, Chelsea
This pair of Instagram-friendly former artists’ studios were once owned by Edward Adamson, a painter and the first artist hired by the NHS to offer art therapy to patients. After his death in 1996 the studios were used as a photographic and film studio, and by the time they came up for sale they needed full refurbishment.
Despite their dated state the studios attracted several offers. They were eventually sold by Savills in October for just above the asking price of £1.5m after a sealed bids auction.
The winning bidders were a young couple who now plan to redevelop and modernise the studios.
