A mysterious property which has been empty and bricked up for 30 years will finally be demolished.
Shabby-looking 31 Gorseinon Road in Penllergaer, Wales, has held much interest and mystique in the Swansea suburb for generations.
It has remained empty since the very early eighties and been boarded up then bricked up since the early to mid nineties.
The detached property has sparked much curiosity to those who live in the area.
One man who says he knows the truth is Christopher Miles, who grew up in a neighbouring property from the late 1970s, living with his parents who themselves lived in the area until only five years ago.
He recalled how he would go and play at the property, then called Amberley House, when he was a youngster, and explained his vivid memories of its grandiose appearance at the time.
Mr Miles said: "I grew up next door down from the property, I was a baby when my parents moved in.
"There was a man living there called Mr Hughes and his wife. My parents would always call him Mr Hughes Amberley, Amberley Cottage was at the front of the house on the gates, that's what the property was called.
"Inside the house, if you can imagine, if you were to plot out a big square, through the middle was a wooden staircase that led up to four rooms.
"There was a massive wooden fireplace and outside two huge green houses. In the back garden it was full of vines of grapes, and a huge apple tree in the corner.
"You'd take them home and you'd have apple crumble and apple pie.
"There was also a massive underground air raid shelter out back, which has filled up with water now, but it was like a playground for us at the time."
Mr Miles explained that Mr Hughes passed away, and the property was left to his two nephews, who in turn decided to sell the property to a businessman in the 1980s.
Some work was carried out on the property, including the construction of an extension, but the businessman never moved in.
Mr Miles explained over time, the property began to deteriorate.
He said: "Over the years, the garden got worse and the greenhouse caved in.
"The roof became worse and tiles were coming off. Over the years police were called a number of times because people would get inside, would be chiselling out wooden fireplaces, stealing copper, everything was stripped and it was practically a shell."
The property was sold to landowner Penllergaer Estates for a remarkable £550,000 in 2017 - well over twice the average house price for the area.
The reason for its value is because it is in such close proximity to fields at the rear of Gorseinon Road, where a huge development of up to 850 houses planned by Bellway Homes was given the go-ahead by Swansea Council in April 2020.
Planning permission was also granted for the developer to demolish 31 Gorseinon Road in order to provide a link road to the houses, which will soon spell the end for the much-admired property.
"It will be a shame to lose it. That's where I used to play when I grew up. But time moves on, this is the closest to Swansea west as an area that has not been developed," Mr Miles said.
