Wreck of the Week

Two very handsome wrecks to show you today and which just so happen to both be in Newport. As in the not-Wales Newport. Or the not-Isle of Wight Newport. Or the not-Yorkshire, not-Cornwall, not-Essex, not-Norfolk Newports. Nor any of the not-UK Newports, such as the ones in Quebec, California, Vermont, New South wales, Queensland, or even the Newport crater on Mars. There are a lot of Newports . This particular Newport is in Shropshire and I'm going to show you Station House first on, predictably, Newport's Station Road. Built around 1830, the former Station Master's home was bought from British Rail in 1974 by its previous owners. The building is Grade II listed, and that listing also covers the (attached) former stable and coachhouse. It is seriously lovely: big, airy rooms packed with original features. And seriously in need of renovation. Some work appears to have been started, or at least thought about - the current owners are trying for planning permissi...

Last week I posted a couple of handsome town houses, and I thought I'd stay with that theme this week and show you this rather lovely house that is almost town, almost country. The three-storey semi is in the lovely Snowdonia market town of Bala . It's Grade II listed and sits on the corner of Tegid Street (the B4391) and a sort-of square, with a church to the side and a backpacker's hostel to the front, according to the God of maps: The house itself is a good size, with a large kitchen/diner, pantry, hall and two reception rooms on the ground floor; two bedrooms and bathroom on the first floor, and two more bedrooms on the second floor.   There's also a weird extra room - a bedroom/office/loft on the first floor but currently only accessed via that ladder and access hatch in the kitchen. I'm not quite sure what the green filter is about in some of the pictures, either a mistake or an experiment with adding a vintage vibe? But the filt...

This week, I've moved away from my usual middle-of-nowhere rural wrecks and picked two large and lovely townhouses. Starting with this gorgeous Scottish villa. The detached, traditional sandstone house is in the coastal town of Prestwick , about 30 miles from Glasgow. 'Midland' is positively dripping with period details - but clearly also needs masses of work. I love the colourful approach to decor... There are half-a-dozen bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, kitchen, four reception rooms, and a bunch of workshops and stores downstairs. Outside are good-size gardens front and back, and the property sits on handsome-looking avenue. The house in on the market through Black Hay, offers over £250k. However, there's a deadline looming - offers by the end of this week (Friday, March 15th).Details and lots more pictures here and here . My second pick is also in Scotland. This time a grand (if junk-filled) semi in the Crown area of In...