It's a grade II-listed building that's laid empty for 13 years, in which time it's been put up for auction on several occasions.
Rothbury House on Newport 's plush and leafy Stow Park Circle once again prepares to go under the hammer with a freehold guide price of £250,000 to £350,00.
But its neighbours have voiced concerns that plans to turn it into a boutique hotel will have a huge detrimental effect on the conservation area in which they live.
Bought in late 2014 by two local restaurateurs, proposals to turn the 137-years-old, three-story Jacobean-style building into a chic getaway and eatery have met with complaints from the residents who claim constant coming and going of guests and loud parties would make their lives miserable.
"Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful property," says 89-year-old Morfydd Bowen, who's lived next door for 35 years.
"But they wanted to build an orangery big enough for 100 hundred people right next my house - can you imagine?"
She added that, with the Newport Register Office based just a few doors away, the proposed hotel would become a hot spot for wedding functions.
Built in 1882, Rothbury House became a nursing home in 1939 before closing its doors in 2006 when the then owner claimed he could no longer afford to run it.
Since then it has remained deserted, its ornate rooms, staircase and impressive stained glass windows - depicting a knight in shining armour - gathering dust until CADW listed it in 2011.
Located within a 0.47 acre site, the property also includes two coach houses and a store room, with gardens and a car park.
In the intervening years it has even been used as a filming location by the BBC hospital series Casualty. Yet all attempts to breathe lasting new life into the place have been frustrated for one reason or another.
John Farrow 75, whose house abuts the Rothbury, says he'd much rather see the building turned back into a family home or a handful of luxury flats.
"The initial planning proposal was to turn it into nine apartments which, quite obviously, wasn't feasible - like trying to fit a quart into a pint pot," he says.
"Similarly unrealistic are the current plans for a hotel.
"Something needs to happen though because we all hate to see it stay empty and fall into further disrepair. I even caught someone trying to pinch lead off its roof this morning."
Fellow neighbour Mary Owen was keen to stress that none of their protests were down to nimbyism.
"We realise how it might look, but we're not being elitist and we're not snobs," says the former primary school teacher.
"The Rothbury is an architectural gem and we're upset to see how it's ended up.
"But, when all is said and done, this is a residential area and home to a lot of elderly people.
"Boutique or not, a hotel means constant to-ing and fro-ing and an inevitable increase in traffic, which will only mean disruption for those who can do without it."
However, owner Pasquale Cinotti, who, with his brother Sergio runs Newport's popular Gemelli restaurants, believes a revamped Rothbury should never have been a cause for residents' concern.
"The plans were not for anything rowdy - it was all about elegance, fine dining, that kind of thing," he says, adding that, with rooms going for about £300 or more per night, they'd always planned on attracting a more high class kind of customer.
The siblings, who were finally granted planning permission for their dream by Newport Council in 2018 following years of objections, cited growing work and family commitments as the reason for now returning the Rothbury to auction.
"I still think a boutique hotel would be a great thing for Newport," adds Pasquale, hinting that he might already have a buyer from Italy lined up to take over the project.
"If that happens then there won't end up being an auction at all - we'll just have to wait and see."
The Rothbury is scheduled to be auctioned by Clive Emson in Cornwall on Thursday, June 13. Click here for more details.
