It’s quite common for a castle to come with a house on the grounds — originally for a gardener or caretaker to live in. But what about a house with a castle in the back garden?
An unassuming three-bedroom terraced house in east London has come on the market with just that. Although, the word castle may be overstating it somewhat since the stone feature is barely big enough to stand up in.
The unusual garden feature was built by a previous owner sometime in the 20th century and remains impressively detailed if somewhat cracked.
It has attracted a huge amount of interest from house hunters and the Abbey Wood property has been viewed more than 1,500 times a day by astounded property seekers.
Estate agent John Payne is selling the recently refurbished home on McLeod Road for £550,000 and said the castle had added to its appeal.
“When we do viewings, most people say it is a great feature,” said branch manager Will Chidley. “Although they do mention that may do some work on it before letting their kids play in it!”
Mr Chidley said the current owners inherited the unusual outbuilding when they bought the house 25 years ago.
“Their kids used it initially but now it is just a feature. It is about one-storey in height, you have to duck a little in places but you can stand up in it.”
Aside from a dream playhouse for aspiring knights and princesses, the stone fortress, which is approximately 5.5m wide, could be used as an imposing shed or an atmospheric summer house.
The three-bed Victorian terrace at the other end of the 14m-long garden has been recently decorated and appears empty and unfurnished in the agent’s images.
It features two downstairs reception rooms and a galley kitchen beneath the sleeping rooms and separated bathroom and toilet.
Abbey Wood is proving a popular area for first time buyers, Mr Chidley said.
“With transport links such as Crossrail, we are finding more and more people relocating from inner London,” he said.
“Asking prices are lower than in Greenwich, for example, so buyers can afford the higher mortgage rates on the market.”
The average selling prices of properties on McLeod Road rose by almost a third last year to £490,000, according to Rightmove.
