The sale of Ribbesford House last year was a true property fantasy. A chance to buy a magnificent castle, complete with octagonal towers, endless bedrooms and a rich history, all at the price of a three-bedroom semi in the suburbs.
And while there was clearly a lot of work to be done, much of the place didn't seem to be too bad on the face of it. 'It's a grand and impressive Grade II*-listed home which has seen many additions and alterations, but fundamentally retains much of its character,' we wrote at the time.
'The Herbert coat of arms is even carved in stone into one of the walls.... The architecture is wonderfully grand, inside and out: the octagonal towers can't help but remind you of the Tower of London...
'Many original features – including many beautiful windows and wall panelling – still survive. The carved staircase, dating back to the 19th century, is particularly fine.'
So what happened next?
Well, the castle went up for sale via auction through Andrew Grant and was bought by a pair of young property entrepreneurs, Samuel and Russell Leeds. And while the guide price had been £500,000, the huge interest in the place meant that the final hammer price crept up to £800,000.
It might even have been more than that: the brothers were originally outbid, but the auction winner had to pull out of the sale a day later.
At the time, the brothers were determined to restore the place to its former glory. 'We are highly conscious of its history and the importance of preserving the building,' Russell said shortly after the auction last year. 'It has immense character and we intend to return it to its heyday. I love old buildings and love them to stay.'
The brothers originally estimated £1 million for the work that needed to be done to a castle which had previously been split into apartments. That budget soon went out of the window, however.
'We knew it was in a dire condition and most of the past year has been about stabilising the property and conducting a string of reports on it,' says Sam.'
'We’ve now been told it will take at least £2m to restore it to the best possible standard. We are happy to spend that much on a building of this magnitude.'
The Leeds brothers brought in a an experienced chartered surveyor, Adrian Walsh, to look at the place. The news wasn't good: Ribbesford proved to be in the condition was the worst he had ever seen in a listed building.
'It’s taken 12 months just to fully assess it. Every imaginable problem an old building could have is present – the full A-Z of issues,' explains Mr Walsh.
'The scale of what is involved is unbelievable. I’ve seen properties in a poor state of repair, but absolutely nothing to this extent.'
Previous owners had split Ribbesford into 12 flats, one of which had collapsed onto the ground floor.
'We couldn’t even find flat six and flat seven had literally fallen down in a gale,' said Adrian. 'We spent £120,000 alone on securing that.'
Making the ground floor safe also proved to be a slow and meticulous job. A crane was brought in for a week to help carefully remove the debris.
'We spent an entire month lifting out the debris and analysing it so that we could salvage roof trusses, tiles and bricks for re-use in the renovation.'
The aim now is to get the main section of the house wind and watertight by Christmas. In addition to the work on the huge roof, this will include external masonry being replaced, reinforced and painted. Once that's done, the brothers will convert the interior into 12 apartments, while a pair of cottages within the grounds will become holiday homes.
'Obviously we have looked at all of this from an investment point of view, but I can assure everyone that we are doing things properly and systematically,' adds Sam.
'We are acutely aware of our responsibilities as custodians of an historic national treasure. That’s why we are conducting the renovation in such a meticulous way. We are not holding back on our budget and will spend at least £2m on this. We still think it will prove to be a fantastic investment for us, but it is a labour of love too as it is incredibly satisfying to be able to restore a jewel of a building to an incredibly high standard.'
'We know people care about Ribbesford House and we care too,' Sam continues. 'In the end we will have brought an historic home back from an appalling condition. This is a place that has been visited by former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who was born in Bewdley, and his cousin Rudyard Kipling. We believe we are doing something extremely worthwhile.'
Credit: Ribbesford House (Photo: Andrew Grant)Ribbesford House (Photo: Andrew Grant/Paul Coleshill Rawphoto Ltd 2017)
A 20-bedroom castle for sale at just £500,000 – but with a huge amount of work to do
Ribbesford House is a 16th century castle in Worcestershire up for auction with a guide price of just £500,000 – but
Credit: Hunters / OnTheMarket.com
The beautiful church where one of 'Laurel and Hardy' was christened is up for auction at a guide price of £110,000
St Peters Church in Bishop Auckland will need an owner with courage and vision, but this building could become something
Credit: Stewart Smith
Country Life's most eyecatching properties of 2018: Wrecks to renovate, castles to care for and islands going for a song
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sumThe London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Guy Ritchie: 'My mother married an impoverished aristocrat with a knackered country pile. I've been chasing that dream ever since'The film maker opens up about his love for the countryside, and his friendship with Sir David Beckham.
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sum
The London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
-
May the force be with you if you move into this London apartment block that Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Cher) once lived inOliver’s Wharf was once the residence of megastar Cher and the actor Sir Alec Guinness — as well as Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
-
125 glorious acres of Elizabethan elegance for sale in Cheshire that comes with a moatIs this real life? Is it just fantasy? No, it's Holford Hall.
-
Look around this James Bond-themed house for sale in Nottinghamshire and release your inner MI6 agentNow, come, come dear reader, you get as much fulfilment out of Skyfall as I do, so why don't you admit it?
-
The eclectic New York townhouse that Lily Allen sings about in her new, headline-making album is for sale381, Union Street is on the market just days after the singer’s latest album details the alleged infidelity in her marriage.
-
This Suffolk home is a perfect escape from the world and it comes with its own stretch of river and 20 acresThis idyllic home in Suffolk is the perfect village home.
-
The quaint Alpine village that got taken over by The BeatlesThe Beatles visited the Austrian resort of Obertauern to film their 1965 film Help!. Despite a distinct lack of prowess on the slopes, the Fab Four got by with a little help from some new-found friends, discovers Russell Higham.
