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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business

Snooping around: Converted monasteries

Lillicrap Chilcott
Property of the week: Port Isaac, Cornwall. The exterior of this stone cottage stands in as Martin Clunes’s home in hit ITV series Doc Martin. The address is spectacular: it’s perched on the cliffside with extravagant views over this former fishing village, which you can absorb from the flagstoned living room. There is a decent garden and off-street parking. Planners have agreed to a two-storey shower room and bedroom extension. Cost: £625,000.
Lillicrap Chilcott, 01872 273473
Photograph: Lillicrap Chilcott/Lillicrap Chilcott
Spencers
Wreck of the week: Broomhall, Sheffield. This Victorian end-of-terrace was until recently a doctor’s surgery. It’s shabby and slightly institutionalised - £30,000-plus should restore a domestic ambience, on top of the £295,000 price. It’s large - four beds, a cellar kitchen leading on to the long, well-kept garden, and a kitchen/breakfast room - and cast-iron fireplaces survive in several rooms. As it used to be a surgery, change the phone number asap.
Spencers, 0114 268 3682
Photograph: Spencers/Spencers
Townends
Take three: converted monasteries. Lord Lucan’s ancestors had Laleham Abbey in Middlesex built in 1805 by JB Papworth, the architect favoured by the Prince Regent. In 1928 it was taken over by nuns and is now several apartments set in seven acres of communal grounds. Beyond the boundaries is a riverside park. For £279,500 you get a reception, a study, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. But there’s no outside space of your own or anywhere to sleep guests.
Townends, 01784 455299
Photograph: Townends/Townends
John D Wood
Take three: converted monasteries. The chapel of this grade II-listed convent in Wantage, Oxfordshire, is where you do your living. For £650,000 you get a reception, a playroom, a study, a kitchen/breakfast room and five beds. The dining table perches in the sanctuary where the altar once stood, and stained-glass windows and arches soar above. Lawned gardens run down to a stream, but you have to cross a shared parking area to reach them.
John D Wood, 01865 311522
Photograph: John D Wood/John D Wood
McCartneys
Take three: converted monasteries. Once a Georgian gentleman’s residence, this five-bedder lately housed Greek Orthodox monks. Now, for £275,000, it can be yours. Set in the village of New Mills, Powys, renovations have bequeathed oak floors, slate hearths, a roll-top bath, a chic fitted kitchen and a carved wood staircase. There are also two receptions, a kitchen/breakfast room, a cellar and a bathroom. Outside are sweeping terraced gardens.
McCartneys, 01686 623123
Photograph: McCartneys/McCartneys
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