1 Fulford Street, known as “The Leaning Tower of Rotherhithe"
(Picture: Savills)In Rotherhithe, teetering over the Thames, is a strange white house that stands alone. Four storeys tall and 3.5 metres wide, it looks conspicuously out of place.
Nicknamed “The Leaning Tower of Rotherhithe”, this is the subject of blogs, social media posts and local intrigue. And now, it is for sale.
1 Fulford Street —the only house on the street— is up for auction with Savills for a guide price of £1.5 million.
Originally part of a row of buildings and known as 41 Rotherhithe Street, the property was once owned by Victorian barge company Braithwaite & Dean and used as the office where lightermen —workers on lighter, flat-bottomed barges who carried cargoes from larger ships— would pull up to collect their wages.
Between 1937 and 1939, it was reportedly home to American author and socialite-turned-communist Jessica Mitford and her husband Esmond Romilly, nephew of Winston Churchill.
The photographer, designer and former husband of Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, lived further along the row in a former coal store.
During the Blitz, however, many of the nearby buildings were destroyed. Post-war, those remaining were sold to London County Council and demolished as part of a plan to extend Southwark Park to the river, according to local history sites. Only number 41, which Braithwaite & Dean refused to sell, survived.
Today, the renamed 1 Fulford Street is a 2,131 sq ft home with 180-degree views over the river. Its current owners, who have enjoyed the building for 28 years, initially occupied the whole building, but now split their time between London and the countryside, renting out the top two floors and using the bottom two as a live/work space, with a studio on the ground floor.
There are, therefore, two kitchens in the building, along with two open plan living areas, three additional reception rooms, two bathrooms, a bedroom and a spare room. With the capacity to change the rooms around, increase the number of bedrooms or convert the building into flats, it is being advertised as a “blank canvas” for buyers.
“It entirely depends on how you want to use it…it’s versatile in that regard,” says Lot Negotiator Steven Morish. “But I think you’ll always keep that top floor as the living area, because that’s where you get the amazing views. The seller has set the sofas at a higher level than they would normally be so you can see 180 degrees. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Away from the Thames, the property backs onto King’s Stairs Gardens, with Southwark Park across the road. The eponymous stairs still survive at 1 Fulford Street, leading round the side of the building down to the river.
Now, after 28 years at their unusual home, the current owners no longer require a London bolthole and have decided to sell their property at auction at 9am on 1 March.
“Auction works really well for quirky lots like this,” Morish explains. “The value in this is an art rather than a science. The buyers will set the value.”
But naturally, a home that has found its way into local legend requires the right person to take it on.
“It’s so unique. It’s not going to suit everyone. But for the right person, it’s an amazing little project,” says Morish.
“It needs a very imaginative buyer — someone who is going to absolutely love the uninterrupted views. It’s a one-of-a-kind property.”
