Mansion, Coniston, Cumbria

I've ignored reason and bought a lottery ticket because of this house. It's way over budget for the sort of properties I usually pick for 'wreck..' but too gorgeous to pass over. Anyway, I had my fingers crossed when I bought the ticket so that'll work.
It's not exactly a wreck - more faded and neglected, although a few more years of poor damp management is likely to do some damage.
Holywath House, in Coniston, is an 11-bedroom (yes, I did say 11) country house on an estate of over seven acres - served by its own hydro electricity system.
Part of the house dates from the sixteenth century and it's been owned by the Barratt and Hext family for 180 years.
The death of 92-year-old Major Hext, in 2010, led to a "Cash in the Attic" bonanza with his seven children putting around 600 weird and wonderful items up for auction.
Holywath has stunning original features - my particular favourite is the garden room, with these beautiful windows:

Lots of rooms have original panelling and fireplaces, including the stunning, 27ft by 19ft billiards room - imagine this as party room!

The Major served in France and Burma during the second world war but his retirement was rather more peaceful; he was a railway buff and built and for 50 years operated a miniature steam railway around the grounds of the house, much of which is still in place:

I found this video of a trip through the woods on Major Hext's railway, shot a couple of years before his death. The sound is especially wonderful:

Holywath House is on the market at £895k through agents Michael Hodgson. More details and pictures here.

Railway carriages for sale

There's a bloke who lives near me who renovates steam engines. The traction ones you can sit on, not the Thomas the tank-engine-sized things. He has a garden full of them.
Anyway, walking past that garden again made me think about vintage railway carriages and how easy it might be to buy a carriage 'wreck' to renovate and live in? Maybe on that cheap plot of land you've had your eye on?
They're not easy to find, and what's available changes from week to week so you need to check the sites  below regularly, but here are some examples.
C.A.R Services, a Shropshire business specialising in selling redundant train stock, currently has a gorgeous batch of carriages for sale. Including this restored, three car group of carriages (DMU Class 115), pictured top and below:

C.A.R also has this 1961 Mk 1 RBR (below). RBR means a restaurant buffet carriage which, in this case, means it also has a galley kitchen and pantry as well as the dining area - so a great space to work with.

Click to open the plans, below, to see what I mean.

Carriages average 66-feet-long, by just over nine-feet-wide.  C.A.R have useful information on their site, including this PDF guide to carriage types.
Carriage Exchange is an enthusiasts' site with a regularly updated list of sites selling train stock.
WNXX is also a train fan's with news, pictures, forums etc. It includes a private sales section for members to advertise their own stock. Right now, that includes this unrestored MK 2 carriage ("most of the copper has been robbed from the vehicle"):

The seller is looking for "offers in excess of scrap price" (about £2-£4k). Poor little Clarabel...
(PS: Fab inspirational photos of carriage restoration on RailHoliday's facebook page- click on 'Photos').

Former country pubs for sale

I've already written about buying ex-public property and former churches but lately I've noticed a new kid on the property block - redundant pubs.
Well, not exactly new because we've been turning our pubs into houses and offices for donkey's years, but with 12 pubs a week closing there are rather more of them popping up on agent and auction lists.
Former pubs are a good option - cheap for the size, already serviced and (usually) with living accommodation you could use while you renovate. Here are some interesting ones I spotted this week.
The Sun Inn (above) sits on a good-sized plot in Arlecdon in rural Cumbria, not far from Cockermouth and the coast, with lovely open views. Downstairs is the pub area, complete with kitchen and cellar, and upstairs is three-bedroomed owners' accommodation. It's on the market through Penrith, Farmers' and Kidd, at offers around £110k - more details here.
Graham Penny has the Grade II Listed Holly Bush Inn up for auction on October 18th (below) with a guide price of £150k plus.

The 17th century former pub and restaurant includes owner accommodation on both floors and good-sized carpark and garden area. It's in the Leicestershire village of Breedon on the Hill, opposite the village green, around two miles from Melbourne. More property details here.
At the opposite end of the renovation scale, how about this former village pub in Dundrennan, Galloway (below).

The Crown and Anchor (as was) needs a full renovation job but it offers plenty of space to work with. Downstairs is the bar, the snug, kitchen and lounge; upstairs are six bedrooms and a bathroom. Outside is a parking area and large garden. Dundrennan itself is a pretty village with a fabulous ruined Abbey, around six miles from the harbour town of Kirkcudbright.
The property is on the market through DGSPC, at offers over £75k. More details and pdf here.

Church property for sale in Scotland

Having already written about buying a closed church in England, I thought I'd tackle Scotland.
The Church of Scotland also publishes an online list of property for sale. This nice bit is it isn't just former churches, it's also former staff houses and offices.
My current favourite is this former manse, pictured above, in the village of Muirkirk, in Ayrshire. The detached villa has three bedrooms, three reception and a big garden and is on the market at offers over £150k. The pdf is here. On a similar scale is a gorgeous detached Manse at Leslie, in Fife, at a pricier offers over £240k.
Church-wise, I loved Mouswald Church, in Dumfries, pictured below. Manageable size, fab location and even the graveyard doesn't stop it being cute as a button. On the market at offers c£40k. Pdf here.

Finally, East Lodge, in Alloa (below). Needs total renovation inside (and some serious graffiti removal) but a lovely building and you have a theatre on your doorstep! On the market at offers over £65k.

Incidentally, buying a property in Scotland is markedly different to the rest of the UK. Particularly the concept of 'offers over' in relation to prices, which makes it more like bidding for something at an auction but without being able to see anyone else'syour competitors' bids. There's plenty of info out there, but here's one useful link to get you started.

Two chapels, a water tower and waterworks for sale (but, ssh!, the factory's a secret)

Two emails prompted me to dig around commercial property lists today for buried treasures.
One was from Karl and Natalie, they of the mammoth church restoration project previously featured on WOW, and the other from a work colleague who is about to put the family's house on the market in order to buy a factory.
Karl wrote of the church above: "An interesting property near me, it catches my eye every time I drive past. If I had the money I would add it to my collection!"
The Bethel Chapel, on Welshpool Road, Newtown, is up for sale at a recently reduced price of £200k. There's limited information here (scroll down the page).
My friend Jackie, her artist husband and their two teenage sons are hoping to sell up and move into this former factory:

The second floor is a three-bedroom, open-plan flat; the ground floor is 1700sqft of workshop area, plus 600sqft of basement for a nifty under £80k. I'd tell you where it is but she'd never speak to me again if one of you lot stepped in and bought it!
So instead, how about this majestic 1920s former waterworks in Lancaster with .76acre at offers c£250k? Or this dinky water tower in countryside near Harrogate, up for auction with a guide price of £7-£10k, or this sweet former Baptist church (pdf) in Crowle village, near Scunthorpe, reduced to £50k? Happy now?

Desperately seeking Cornwall

So what is it about Cornwall? Something going on down there that I don't know about?
I've had two WOW fans email me, both looking for a Cornish 'wreck' to stamp their mark on.
Glen, a carpenter builder, and his family are desperate to leave their east London home and move to Cornwall (or Devon) where they dream of renovating a house and starting a business.
He told me he'd looked at over 30 properties: "My mum and dad's dream is to have a small campsite somewhere rural which needs work. But they are becoming very depressed as we have been looking for over a year now with two houses falling through last minute."
Sonet emailed me from South Africa. She and her husband are reluctantly selling up and leaving the beautiful house they renovated in SA (pictured above) to move in with relatives in Cornwall while they look for their own Cornish 'wreck'.
They have very little money but they've already renovated one 'wreck' themselves and, as Sonet said: "We just love creating something out of nothing."
So - anyone out there selling a 'wreck' in or close to Cornwall? Drop me an email and I'll pass it on.