Tasteful friends.... a gay man’s dream house: tall, thin, and bigger than Nelson’s

It's a rare case of a building I would like to rent rather than own, and rent it for a year. If I owned it I would worry that a lightning strike or some catastrophe would sink me into a poor house having to restore a Grade I listed building of enormous height and enormous impracticality. Renting it for a short time you could enjoy its enormous charm and walk away before it wore thin living in such an oddball house, all up and up and up and down again, with pokey little low ceilinged spaces that are quirky rather than beautiful.

Its a wonderful place but not to own.

An except from the intro to a recent piece in The Telegraph (I can never remember if it's The Telegraph or The Independent that makes DL go crazy, so just a short excerpt):

[quote]The owner of a Grade I-listed gothic tower once restored with public money has prompted renewed anger after putting it up for sale for a second time despite claiming he would give it away in a competition.

[quote]More than £3million of taxpayers money was ploughed into the restoration of Hadlow Tower in Tonbridge, Kent, considered the tallest of its kind in the world.

[quote]Christian Tym, a tax accountant and former banker, then purchased the majestic folly for just £425,000 in 2017 before putting it up for sale for £2million barely a year later.

[quote]When that failed, he took it off the market and instead put it up for grabs via a prize competition, selling tickets for between £4.50 and £2.75. [in 2018]

What's gay about it?

Awful inside

I like it. But as mentioned earlier in the thread....the maintenance is a nightmare. A grade 1 building for under 1.5 million - seems great....until you realize you are buying a money guzzler.

Nelson?

This is one of those interesting, unique homes that I wouldn't touch with your ten foot pole. It's just the tower part of the estate that had to be broken apart and sold piecemeal; you're going to have to share the common grounds with the people who live in the big house (with all its creature comforts, like rectangular rooms joined by hallways, not having to climb stairs or ride an elevator to pee in the middle of the night, heat), deal with nosy neighbors and random tourists drawn to the tallest structure around, and worst of all, live in a landmark. I knew a family that lived in a semi-famous home, known for its unique round living room with nearly 360-degree views; they complained bitterly about having zero privacy, being startled by people feeling it appropriate to trespass and come right up to the windows for a look, and in bad weather, basically not being able to use the room because it was either freezing or roasting. Add to all this the fact that it was refurbished with public money, and it's a recipe for owner misery.