If you live and breathe the beautiful game, how about moving to a property near to your team's grounds?
A unique oast-style family home in Whitstable, Kent, is on sale for £895,000.
The property, called Minstrels Oast, is an imitation oast house built in the 1980s. “In Kent, the traditional oasts are iconic buildings, and lots of them are being converted [into homes],” says Ian Chappell, a Senior Valuer at estate agent Woodward & Bishopp.
“In our neck of the woods, there weren’t any original ones. If you want to live down by the coast here in pretty Whitstable and love that style of building, you have to go out of town.”
Oast houses are buildings used to dry fresh hops for brewing beer. They date back as far as the 1500s, with construction taking off in Kent, the first place in the UK to grow hops, in the mid-1800s. Overall, some 5,000 oast houses were built nationwide —particularly in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Herefordshire— with 3,000 in Kent alone.
Today, brewing tends to take place in factories on a more industrial scale, and most oast houses have been converted into striking homes, holiday lets or museums. Godwin Oast, a white-panelled, thatch roofed oast in Cranbrook, Kent, is the oldest remaining example, dating back to 1580. These days, the Grade II listed building functions as a bed and breakfast.
Oast houses’ most distinctive features are their large, conical roofs, which were originally the charcoal-fired kilns used for drying the hops. On top, like at Minstrels Oast, there would be a cowl – a kind of chimney which would allow hot air to be drawn up through the kiln, creating a vacuum.
There would also have been a stowage – a barn section where the hops were cooled and packed. Although Minstrels Oast never functioned as an oast house, it still possesses the distinctive kiln, stowage building, outhouses and surrounding land.
“When oast houses are converted, the roundel creates a couple of lovely rooms. Then you have an open-plan barn-style conversion attached. This has recreated all of that, with a minstrels’ gallery —hence Minstrels Oast— vaulted ceiling – all the bits that we love about an oast house, but without the issues that a lot of oast houses will have,” says Chappell, who lists woodworm, dry rot, poor insulation and shallow foundations as common problems with the original buildings.
“It’s giving the lifestyle —but not the aggravation— of an oast house,” Chappell adds.
At Minstrels Oast, the roundels have become an office and a bedroom, with curved walls and a domed ceiling. The stowage’s traditional vaulted ceiling covers an open plan living room.
The property is spread across two floors, with four double bedrooms, a garage, wood store and barn, which has been converted into a cavernous workshop. It is surrounded by two thirds of an acre of land.
According to Chappell, the semi-rural location, just three miles from characterful Whitstable, is a major selling point.
Minstrels Oast has served as a unusual family home for the past 25 years, and was last sold in 1997. “I think it’s definitely a family house,” says Chappell. With its generous workshop space, he argues that the property would also suit people working from home, or running their own business.
As a replica, Minstrels Oast offers the chance to live in a unique home, without the complications of a historical oast house. Chappell says: “So many things we buy nowadays are mass-produced – even a lot of houses…We are getting more and more people that have the ability to look for something a little different. They don’t want what everyone else has got.”
He adds: “It is a lifestyle change, and this is a bit of a lifestyle purchase.”
Because you don’t have to wait until winter to try and trim back. By Vicky Shaw.
Vital statistics on power-generation firms suspected of having cashed in on high energy prices
Some 23% of firms with more than 10 employees reported a rise in hourly wages.
Global Thermoplastics Prepreg Market Global Thermoplastics Prepreg Market Dublin, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Thermoplastics Prepreg: Global Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report will cover the thermoplastic prepreg industry. Definitive and detailed estimates and forecasts of the global market are provided, followed by a detailed analysis of the regions, countries and applications. Furthermore, the on-going market trends, market growth drivers
Top culture and dining gets city 85% approval rating; Aberdeen comes last and London rated seventh
Spunbond Nonwovens Market Research Report by Material Type (Bico Spunbond Nonwovens, Polyamide Spunbond Nonwovens, and Polyester Spunbond Nonwovens), End Use, Function, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Spunbond Nonwovens Market Research Report by Material Type, End Use, Function, Region - Global Forecast to 202
The Public and Commercial Services Union has said the Scottish Government’s pay offer is a ‘real terms pay cut’.
The pharma giant hit back at allegations that the use of Zantac, known chemically as ranitidine, increases the risk of cancer.
United Kingdom Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing Market United Kingdom Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing Market Dublin, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "United Kingdom Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing Market and Forecasts 2022 - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The United Kingdom Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing Market was valued at $187 Million in 2021 and is estimated to reach a value of $481 Million by 2028 at a growth rate of 14.4%. This new market report presents a
CWU’s Andy Furey says issues at stake ‘are all remarkably similar’ across separate trade disputes
The Caribbean market is witnessing more on-premises data center investment than colocation and hyperscale data centers. The Caribbean data center market is growing with strong economic factors, government support, digitalization, technology penetration, and connectivity with major global markets.New York, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Caribbean Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2022-2027" - https://www.report
The ultimate “DAO operating system” solution for DAO creation and management, The Summon Platform, shows strong momentum since announcement three weeks ago. Next week, the platform’s crucial utility/governance token will be distributed to community members encouraging their active participation in development priorities.ZUG, Switzerland, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Summon Platform, a comprehensive “operating system” for groups and organizations to easily create and manage Decentralized
The airport saw 318% more people – a total of 6.3 million – pass through its terminals in July.
Learn how to add up to £60,000 to your home's value.
Winter sun holidays from Wales have been scuppered as Wizz Air cancels flights to beach destinations from Cardiff airport.
Explainer: The looming hardship is fuelling support for Don’t Pay UK campaign, but there are other approaches
We’re interested in people’s memories of the power cuts in the UK during the early 1970s
As thousands plan to cancel direct debits in protest at soaring energy prices, charities warn about dangerous levels of debt
China's top internet watchdog said on Friday tech giants such as Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group have submitted details of algorithms used in some of their products, complying with a drive by authorities to tighten oversight of platform algorithms. The rules are part of a broad regulatory crackdown by Beijing against its once free-wheeling technology sector. State media had accused internet platforms of using algorithms to invade user privacy and influencing their choices.
Meta can ‘track every single interaction with external websites, from all form inputs like passwords and addresses, to every single tap’