'The full Tiger King experience on your doorstep!' reads a line from the details for Oak Lodge, in the village of Filby, within the Norfolk Broads National Park.
It's not so much the design, the thatched roof or the lovely garden that makes it stand out, however; it's what lies next door. The house backs on to the Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens — and more specifically the tiger enclosure. You can see the handsome beasts — a male Sumatran tiger named Kubu and a female called Dua — prowling through their wooded home, and hear the sounds of their roars as they call to each other through the trees.
The house is for sale with Minors & Brady via OnTheMarket at £365,000, the same sort of price as you'd pay for a similarly-sized (or perhaps slightly larger) house in one of the nearby coastal villages, such as Caister, which are a short drive away.
A large, open-plan kitchen-dining room is the heart of the single-storey home, while there's also a separate living room and three bedrooms.
Thrigby Hall itself has an interesting history. Built in 1736 by Joshua Smith, it became a wildlife park in 1979 when a man named Ken Sims took it over. Ken had spent some time living and working with wildlife in Malaysia, and — inspired by David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell — he turned this Georgian house and gardens into a park which now has not only tigers, but also alligators, crocodiles, meerkats and several types of leopard, among others.
The cottage's proximity to the coast, the Norfolk Broads and — of course — the tigers makes it jump out as an ideal holiday let, but it would also make a lovely permanent home. Filby has a primary school among its amenities, the busy seaside town of Great Yarmouth is within easy reach and Norfolk is just over half an hour's drive.
Lowther Castle: The incredible transformation of the ruins of one of Britain's greatest Regency castle
An ambitious restoration campaign has transformed the ruins of one of Britain’s greatest Regency castles and brought it back to
-
Suit yourself: I’m a 49 year-old man-about-town and I’ve never owned a suitWhen Hugh Smithson-Wright turned up to Country Life's annual Gentleman's Life party sans suit, it sparked a passionate conversation about why the formal fashion just isn't for everyone.
-
'The ugliness and craziness is a part of its charm': The Country Life guide to BangkokWhere to stay, where to eat and what to do in the Thai capital.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UKThe Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
-
A Georgian farmhouse that's an 'absolute gem' in an ancient village on Salisbury PlainJulie Harding takes a look at the beautiful West Farm in a gorgeous Wiltshire village.
-
It'd be crazy to buy this 500-year-old farmhouse just because of its utterly gorgeous Aga — so thank goodness that the rest of this place is also really nicePerry Mill Farm is an immaculate yet characterful four-bedroom dream home in the country at a price that will make city dwellers immediately start Googling 'working from Worcestershire'.
-
'A masterpiece of timeless elegance' for sale on the charmed Surrey estate once owned by Henry VIII and the Guinness familyThe Manor House in Burwood Park is a grand, enormous and undeniably impressive. Annabel Dixon takes a look.
-
A grand hall in Yorkshire with 400 years of historyCarlton Hall is a wonderful family home amid glorious gardens in a quaint village location. Penny Churchill looks inside.
-
Why don't more of us live in brightly coloured homes?It's not often that you see a home sporting the colour palette that you'd get if you hired a four-year old as your interior designer. But why not? The Blue House in Bethnal Green asks this and many more questions.
-
Five magnificent mansions, from a former monastery to an Art Deco wonder in the South Downs, as seen in Country LifeWonderful homes, including a superb beach home in Cornwall, all fresh on the market via Country Life.
-
A 14-bedroom 'miniature Downton Abbey' to call your own — and there's not a penny of Mansion Tax to be paidNorton Manor is an incredible period home that's on the market for £1.3 million.
