The Dawn Chorus: A White House doppelganger for sale, the dog that saw a ghost and how to be better looking than David Beckham

A White House that you can live in without having to do a pretty complicated job

With under a week to go until the US electorate decides who will get to be the next resident of The White House, Knight Frank got in touch to point out that you can have your own White House without having to win an election, and — even better — without having to move to America. The home in question is this seven-bedroom, Grade I-listed beauty on Hanover Terrace, arguably the most sought‑after of the famed 'Nash Terraces' of Regent's Park.

As for how close it is to the real thing? At well over 6,000sq ft, this gorgeous home is enormous by Central London standards, but it turns out to be tiny by Pennsylvania Avenue standards. That's because referring to The White House as a 'house' is like calling the seven-volumes of Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu a book: at 55,000 sq ft, it's almost 10 times the size of Hannover Terrace.

Then again, The White House has a staff of almost 2,000 people, so most of that 55,000 sq ft would probably be spoken for by their desks and cookers and hoovers and whatnot. We'd heartily recommend the London version.

What's that you say? How much about price? Well, the clever people at Architectural Digest guesstimated that the official Washington DC residence of POTUS would cost just under $400 million on the open market, making this London bootleg version a snip at just £18.95 million. You can see more details about the house here.

Quiz of the Day

1) In England and Wales, who would wear a custodian helmet?

2) Which breed of sheep takes its name from a range of hills in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders?

3) What is the traditional bingo call for the number 78?

4) Which English agricultural pioneer invented the horse-drawn seed drill?

5) What was the name of Gandalf’s white horse in The Lord of the Rings?

You are better looking than David Beckham

It might only be for one night only, but enjoy it while you can.

The dog that saw a ghost

It being All Saints Day, and a day after Halloween, a ghost story seems in order. And here we have one that was sent to Country Life over sixty years ago.

'One evening, when we were all sitting by the fire, Prickles, my terrier, got up, walked to the door, looked up and wagged his tail, greeting someone who had just come in,' wrote Kay Monier-Williams of Suffolk in a letter to Country Life back in 1963.

'After a moment, he turned and, still wagging his tail, accompanied her or him towards us. He then stopped, looked up again and turned towards the door, but did not move and obviously watched the person leave the room, after which he sighed deeply. He certainly liked his friend, who was invisible to us.'

There are more readers' ghost stories here.

All done for this week — we'll be back on Monday

Quiz answers

1) A police officer

2) Cheviot

3) Heaven’s gate

4) Jethro Tull

5) Shadowfax

Credit: Strutt and Parker

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