Wreck of the Week

Two puzzling properties for you today. First this thatched and detached cottage in Essex. The five-bed property was put up for auction this week by receivers but failed to sell. It had a guide price of £550k and is now on the market at £600k via Allsop. A great price for a large country home in Harlow, with its fast train link to London and easy motorway access. Until you see the rear view. What you're looking at is the part-finished two-storey rear extension (bumping the property up to five bedrooms), and a great big hole in the ground that was the beginning of a swimming pool. Presumably you could apply for a revision to the planning permission and fill in the hole. My thinking is courtyard: it looks a nice spot to sit with a gin and tonic and a couple of hounds. There are no internal photos, the agent's details describe it as a "shell"', but reader Jaki, who told me about the property, found this archived posting which seems to be the same hous...

I seem to have a ton of properties waiting in my 'to do' list at the moment, so let's start with a trio of Scottish homes-in-waiting. First, please stop sending me emails about Cavers Castle . Lots of you have emailed me about this one and while yes, it's an interesting wreck steeped in history, it's also an over-priced ruin in a difficult location (think big machinery and access roads), with no services and no planning permission. There are wrecks and there are follies, Cavers is in the latter category. Incidentally, the castle's ruined look isn't the result of hundreds of years of dereliction. In 1953, then owner James Palmer-Douglas let the British Army use it for explosives tests. Lovely though it is, Cavers isn't a job for the likes of us; it's the sort of thing the National Trust for Scotland should have taken on years ago. Shame on you NTS. More wreck than ruin however is Cuither House, pictured at the top  of this post and below...

I got a lovely email from regular reader Eleanor. Lovely because she helped fill in missing details on a property I'd featured, and doubly lovely because she also sent me these two Cumbrian beauties. They're both up for auction on April 7th. I'll start with the easy (ish) one. Hall Hills is a detached former farmhouse that's been empty for some time. The agent's details don't say anything about the size of the place, other than it has three-bedrooms. And, I'm not entirely certain what use this room is intended for: It's neighbouring property is also up for auction - the two being offered both separately and as one, combined lot. However that farmhouse needs rather more "renovation": It does however come with two barns, and planning permission to convert them into homes. The properties are in a fairly remote rural location (as the pictures show), about seven miles from Brampton and 13 from Carlisle. ...

Couple of interesting properties in the Malverns to show you today.  The first, pictured above, was sent to me by reader DJ Clark and is in a gorgeous location in the upper western slopes of the hills. Woodlands is a four bedroomed detached house in the hamlet of Upper Colwall . Three reception rooms, kitchen and a large cellar downstairs, four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Outside is almost half and acre of garden, plus those stunning views across towards the Black Mountains. It's up for auction on April 14th, with a guide price of £250k - £260K, via John Goodwin. More details on the agent's site here and on Primelocation here . Also with John Goodwin is this former stationmaster's house, within Malvern itself: Station House is on Malvern Link station  - the spa town's second mainline station, with regular trains to London Paddington, Birmingham and elsewhere. The detached, Malvern Stone house has a large kitchen/breakfast r...