With its stone tower, arched windows, and castellations, it is one of London’s most extraordinary houses.
And the perfect miniature castle, set incongruously in a south London landscape of council flats and boxy modern houses, could be yours to rent for £1,600pcm.
The small but perfectly formed National Trust-owned property has been newly refurbished and listed for rent today.
At 495 square feet, and with a single bedroom, the castle is one of London’s tiniest houses.
According to Gwyn Headley, author of Follies of London, it was built in around 1875.
And despite its elaborate design the reason behind it was purely functional.
The flint and stone property is on Phipps Bridge Road, Merton. The owner of the local stately home, Wandle Villa, had built a row of workers’ cottages to house his staff – unfortunately constructing them on the floodplain of the River Wandle.
“The terrace was on the verge of completion when it was discovered that the last house was rapidly sinking into the ground, like a torpedoed cathedral,” explained Headley.
The solution was to build an “externally massive and internally minute castle as an extremely exotic buttress”.
According to the Mysterious Mitcham website the castle comes complete with its own ghost. A former resident reports that a spectral figure was regularly seen climbing its stairs carrying a candle.
The National Trust has been running the estate, and its staff cottages, since 1941.
And, although its garden is small, the castle is set beside the 125-acre Morden Hall Park, featuring a wetland area, orchard, and café.
According to the property listing the tenancy comes with an added bonus: "As a tenant of the National Trust, you'll receive a free 'tenant pass' throughout the duration of your tenancy."
