Britain's largest home for just £8 million
An incredible 350-room mansion has gone on the market. The stunning property is 150 times the size of the average British home, and has an incredible five miles of corridors. Despite this - and the lavish opulence of the interiors - it'll set you back just £8 million - less than the price of a small flat in Knightsbridge.
The property is Wentworth Woodhouse, a Georgian mansion, just north of Rotherham, which was one of the grandest homes of its age. It is so enormous that although it is said to have an estimated 350 rooms, nobody has managed to count them.
In much the same way as Buckingham Palace, there is an exceptional range of state rooms. Unusually for a property of this size and age, many of them have been kept in good condition, and retain many of their architectural fittings and inset paintings.
There's a pillared hall and cantilevered staircase. This leads up to the marble saloon, which was said to be the finest of its time, and is an incredible 60 square feet. In addition there are a number of lavish family apartments and servants quarters.
Why so cheap?
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At £8 million, it's a bargain. However, there are a couple of very good reasons why it isn't more expensive. The first is that the market for a property of this astonishing size is relatively limited. While most people dream of having more space, once you get to over 300 rooms, the cost and trouble of running and maintaining the property becomes a headache for most people, who would rather stick with something more manageable.
In addition, if you wanted to inhabit the whole property, there's an enormous amount of restoration that needs to take place. The estate agent listing admits that the south wing has lost a lot of its character, as it was converted for institutional use when the place became a teacher training college in the 1940s. The whole lot is Grade I listed too, which is a reflection of the grandeur of the building, but also makes restoration far more complex and expensive.
The enormous Grade I listed stable block once housed 84 racehorses, but now requires an awful lot of work. In the late 1940s the stables were converted to classrooms and a gym for the college, and in the 1970s a separate set of buildings were also built for the college - including a halls of residence. These are all now redundant.
It's a truly spectacular property, but would you want to take it on?
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