We went to see various properties and some of them were interesting to say the least. There was one that seemed to have two doors into every room, the auction one that stank – clearly had had squatters in it – and plenty that had no room for profit whatsoever. One had had some work done to it but the owners had given up half way through so there was a toilet and sink in a bedroom with only half a wall to separate it but no room for a shower if it was intended to be an en suite.

The most memorable one however, had clearly been owned by somebody with eccentric tastes. When we arrived to view the property, the agent showing it asked me, “Do you like Roman architecture?” We walked in and there was a wide archway between the two reception rooms with a hint of an ornate border but nothing too out of the ordinary. The kitchen was old but normal. Then we went upstairs. Along the upstairs landing it looked as if someone had stuck cherubs and various designs of an ornate roman nature all over the wall and then painted over the whole lot. One of the rooms was the same inside as well.

It was nothing that couldn’t be changed. However, the real gem was the sort of home-made extension. They’d added on a tiny room upstairs, but there was no room underneath it so to support it there were four tall roman looking pillars outside holding it up. Needless to say there were cracks all over the place and we wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. It makes you wonder what else we might find!!

Em