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Interior Life of an Estate Agent - part 19

Wilful neglect

The virtual ruin fascinates me because it is almost untouched since it was built. The cupboards in the kitchen remain; the pantry and meat cupboard is under the steep staircase. It still has the original Victorian cast iron fireplaces in all the upstairs rooms and the original Victorian linoleum on the bedroom floors. Each square is made to look like a rug, and placed centrally on the wooden boards. Two are green and brown designs so are interesting although pretty drab, but I particularly like the one in the back bedroom which is a rosy pink with leaves and flowers - the back bedroom; with the soaking walls and the plaster which has just fallen off the wall in one great lump the size of a double bed.

The back walls of the house are soaking because the owner of the house has left it empty for some years, meaning to do some work on it, and not getting round to it, and he has allowed a broken gutter to pour many seasons of rain down the walls. This is also why the entire back section of the house is black from wet and mould.

Yes, this is the place where the same owner has told us off for mentioning the cracks. He says we're putting people off the property, that the cracks and splaying walls are not caused by anything structural. We now have the engineer’s report and the heavy roof needs to be tied to the walls. How long will it take before the handsome old Victorian house simply collapses under the strain?

He has refused an offer of 200K. Instead, he holds out for the full 220K. No garden, no parking, soon maybe, no house.
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