School’s out, mod cons are in at Reed Place in Clapham, where an imposing former school building has been converted into apartments and mews houses. A 990 sq ft two-bedroom split level apartment, complete with two bathrooms and a 24 ft 8 reception room, carries a price tag of £749,950, while a 1,128 sq ft two-bedroom mews house with vaulted ceilings and stunning wooden floors is on the market for £899,950. Year 7 maths suggests that the apartment is cheaper foot for foot – but that’s before you throw in a private garden.
Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, 020 7348 5311 Photograph: Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward
Times tables have been swapped for coffee and dining tables and blackboards for white walls in this grade II listed former school in Frithelstock near Bideford. The prettily thatched detached three-bedroom home, on the market at a guide price of £349,000, has plenty of living space downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs, including a master room with its own dressing room and en suite. It loses marks for the fact that the main bathroom is downstairs, but the study could put it top of the class for anyone working from home.
Stags, 01237 425030 Photograph: Stags
Not as in writing and ‘rithmetic – but the Berkshire town. What was once an independent school run by Benedictine monks at Douai Abbey is now a luxury development and this three-bed duplex apartment is a lesson in under-stated plushness. Two of the bedrooms are en suite and there’s a large family bathroom for the occupants of the other one to use; the fitted kitchen boasts granite worktops and there’s a full-time concierge to cater to your needs. Underground parking for two cars will come in handy if you want to travel to the local Woolhampton station and commute into London each day. These luxuries come at a price – the apartment costs £525,000 and the service charge comes in at £3,618 a year.
Hamptons International, 01635 582 111 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45494074.html Photograph: Hamptons International
An instant geography lesson is available every time you step out of the door of this former school on Skye. It is located on the south-eastern coastline of Skye overlooking the Sound of Sleat and ensconced by dramatic scenery. Offers over £295,000 are invited for the old school house and the school building. Planning permission has been granted to turn the latter into accommodation, while the former already provides a three-bedroom home. Gaze out from the sitting room over the countryside while you toast yourself in front of the open fire and mull your plans for what used to be three classrooms and a scullery next door.
Strutt & Parker, 01463 719171 Photograph: Strutt & Parker
Top marks to the current owners of the Old School House in Wellesbourne, who have done their history and refurbished it to make the most of original features of this grade II listed building, including an elm staircase, exposed beams and wall timbers. Set over four floors, from the cellar to the loft bedrooms, the 17th century building offers four bedrooms, a large kitchen-diner, separate sitting room and study. Outside is a pretty garden that boasts its own (child-sized) castle. You need to do your homework before buying, as there is understood to be a flying freehold over the downstairs cloakroom and the utility room. Offers from £425,000.
Fine & Country, 01926 455950 Photograph: Fine & Country
It hasn’t been a school since the 1970s, but this imposing stone building in Longueville, County Cork, could still make you quake if you’d forgotten to do your homework. Built in 1889 with a Gothic arched doorway that nods to the past, it has the trappings of modern life within: all four bedrooms have en suites, the kitchen is kitted out with Bosch appliances, and there’s a separate utility room plumbed for a washer and dryer. The original stone entrance remains, but once you’ve driven through the wrought iron gates you can park in the modern double garage. Drainage is to a septic tank and the heating runs on oil. Yours for €300,000.
Michael Daniels, +353 (0)25 31023 Photograph: Michael Daniels
