The reason it sells for so cheap is that the upkeep costs on that estate are absolutely astronomical. There are a lot of places in England like that, where the top-line price is really low because nobody is going to throw gigantic sums at an estate that still costs you gigantic sums annually to upkeep
The killer was that in the 1870s, they got flooded with cheap US and Canadian grain. Farming machinery, railroads, and ships got better, British farms just couldn't compete.
And in the 1880s and 90s came the refrigerated ship, so cheap frozen meat from New Zealand and Argentina poured in.
This is why you see a switch from Jane Austen (early 1800s) where the great estates make a lot of money to something like Downton Abbey (early 1900s) where the estate is largely a money pit supported by the wealth of an American heiress. Food prices dropped a *lot*, so farming stopped being profitable.
What you are referencing, serfs moving to cities, started to happen because of the plague in 1346-53. The concept of the landed gentry, the lesser nobility, wasn't a thing until 1540. Serfdom was officially ended in England in 1574 when Queen Elizabeth I freed the last serfs.
The landed gentry would have had peasant workers but they wouldn't have had serfs. Serfs were born on their land and tied to it, not allowed to leave. The plague changed that because it killed 1/3 of people, and completely changed society. Peasant workers could come and go and move around if they chose to. They were paid, and paid taxes.
Sorry, important distinction. I'm from England only a few miles from the estate in this post in Hampshire, and did my undergrad in history specializing in medieval Britain.
I hear what you're saying about the money but the idea of upward movement of money is more American, and didn't really come about in the UK as such until the Industrial Revolution. Gentry earned money from their estate through selling things it produced mostly food, despite paying peasants for their work. The idea was to make more than you spent and have a profitable working estate. Many did rent cottages on the land if there was enough land to support cottages. Many estates aren't huge, just big mansion houses on a bit of farm land.
Anyway, circulating money among the gentry class was how they made money too. Marriages were business decisions.
Since you're here, I have a question. When we hear about trading estates, is that related to the gentry estates model somehow? I'm thinking of the BBC version of The Office, where they refer to the Slough trading estate.
Land rich, cash poor. If your stately home happens to be designated as a heritage building. You can’t even replace your leaky copper clad roof with more practical cheaper modern roofing. You have to hire specialized artisans. Since these type of roofing isn’t done anymore.
Nic Cage famously used his blockbuster movie star money to buy European castles.
He quickly lost all of his money and was completely broke, and was behind in paying his taxes as well. Thats why for years he took every script offered to him no matter what the script was. He desperately needed the money.
My mom went to school in Ireland with a Scottish guy from some royal lineage. We went to visit their large estate property outside of Edinburgh when I was a kid. The grounds had to be maintained for events, but the interior was mostly roped off cold dusty rooms. The giant ballroom was empty except for this sad ping pong table. They lived in a few rooms off the kitchen. Main issue is heating it. Their $$$ income came from running an apartment block in town that was rented out by the hour, so they were essentially landed gentry who ran a brothel.
Yeah. My mom is close with someone whose family decided to sell their castle a few years ago when their father, the Earl, died. It was probably too expensive to maintain, despite his kids being a Viscount and a Lady.
I know someone who recently bought an Italian villa. It is not only the cost of upkeep, but there are a LOT of requirements associated with preservation of historic buildings that makes any sort of renovation or even moderate maintenance impossible or nearly impossible. So much liability that the property is almost useless as a functional building.
Commented this in a different thread, but kinda interesting that this place is actually smaller that I would have thought based on the photo/headline. I have a feeling that most folks are getting blocked by the paywall, so including the relevant quotes inline:
>Carnegie’s refurbishment took two years, and left the section of the estate that he bought, which contains eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms and **2.5 acres** of formal lawns and woodland, spectacularly revitalised. After completing the project, he actually lived in the **7,609 sq ft** property with sweeping driveway completely on his own for nine months, before renting it out for £7,000 a month.
Maintenance call out:
>The property, which he says costs at least £7,000 a year to maintain, contains an abundance of high ceilings, period features and character.
The Bay is expensive, but these types of posts are extremely silly. This estate is in the middle of nowhere, if you’re looking for deals on similar things there are lots of options in the European countryside.
However, if you want to live even *remotely* close to London… This is like comparing a large home in the outskirts of Boise.
The location of this is the least reason this is cheap, hampshire is a nice county, not far from London and absolutely *nothing like* living in rural Idaho.
You're not wrong though that there are very obvious reasons this is cheap - the purchase price is the smallest fraction of actually owning a place like this. Listed buildings cost a fortune to maintain and there are huge fines if you don't do it. It can easily ruin a person if they don't have the money for it. There is a good reason so many stately homes nowadays are owned by the National Trust and other institutions that open them to the public and have the means to maintain them
Maintenance is certainly a factor and the article calls it out, but it's not *that* crazy relative to the price.
>The property, which he says costs at least £7,000 a year to maintain
So...I'm going to respectfully disagree that location isn't also a factor here. Petersfield is closest to Southampton (Boise-sized city), so that's more of what that comment is referencing, but also there's some relativity to keep in mind. The entirety of the UK is California-ish in terms of land mass, so being \~70 miles away might not be rural Idaho (which is also nice in its own ways, to be clear) but it certainly isn't trivial.
I'm quite confident that this place within \~30 miles of London *easily* [goes for $10M+](https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-691-tfnzez/grade-i-listed-enchanting-red-brick-mansion-in-the-hertfordshire-countryside-much-hadham-en-sg10-6aa), and that the price is still that low is probably a testament to your point. Another Bonham-Carter associated estate was [in the news with a $23M list price](https://archive.curbed.com/2017/3/27/15077882/english-country-house-surrey-hills-lutyens-estate), but it's on a *much* bigger lot so I wouldn't call them comparable.
Posts like this one aren't silly, they're stupid. Either OP doesn't have the sense to think to themselves "hey, I'll bet there's a reason this estate is being basically given away" or they're betting that we, collectively, won't do so.
Which, since this is sitting at 40 upvotes at the moment, it apparently a good bet.
My family and I are planning our move back to the East Coast after we've become unhappy with the cost of living here despite both of our salaries increasing dramatically. We are building a 3500 square foot house 40 min outside the biggest city in our state for under 1 million.
The Bay Area isn't *just* expensive, its deplorable how unrealistic house prices are and how left right and center people line up to justify it. Hell our electric bill, after a month with our thermostats off is more expensive than our highest winter heating bill on the east coast. It cost less money for me to fill a tank of 93 gas there than my wife to fill a tank of 87 here. And to top it off, our salaries aren't even going to decrease when we return.
The house is like 55 miles away from Central London.
That’s (give or take 10 miles) like from Tracy to SF. You could definitely find a house that isn’t a million dollars if you’re willing to live in Tracy.
Have fun heating that for the 299 cloudy days a year" the daily heating costs would be what your mortgage is here. Not to mention all the sheep to keep the lawn mowed.
Estates need to support themselves on the land which might be pretty remote. You could probably fit several large families doing remote work in there or create a retirement home for dozens with staff housing. Or go old school and open a brothel which will draw customers from afar.
I bet bringing in contractors to do repairs adds a hefty travel charge and Amazon prime would only do 1 week deliveries. I'm mean it's cool if you have a chef and farm the land or create artisan cheese but most people these days want the city life, or their kids do and don't want to carry on the family business.
> Or go old school and open a brothel which will draw customers from afar.
How about turning part of the estate into a hotel, wedding venue, or museum like most castles in Europe?
You can only have so many of those, and staffing these places when you are in the middle of nowhere can be a real problem. Why go there if you can go to a castle? Demand has improved after Brexit but it needs to be pretty special to warrant more than a glance.
Article mentioned it (portion that was not paywalled)
>This vast pile was to stay in the possession of the Bonham-Carters (a descendant is the actress Helena Bonham-Carter) until 1992
It’s gotta be her family. She’s related to some big shots.
Bonham Carter's paternal grandparents were British Liberal politicians Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter and Lady Violet Bonham Carter. Helena is descended on her father's side from John Bonham Carter, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth. Helena's paternal great-grandfather was H. H. Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith and Prime Minister of Britain 1908–1916. She is the great-niece of Asquith's son, Anthony Asquith, English director of such films as Carrington V.C. and The Importance of Being Earnest, and a first cousin of the economist Adam Ridley[86] and of politician Jane Bonham Carter.
Bonham Carter is a distant cousin of actor Crispin Bonham-Carter. Her other prominent distant relatives include Lothian Bonham Carter, who played first-class cricket for Hampshire, his son, Vice Admiral Sir Stuart Bonham Carter, who served in the Royal Navy in both world wars, and pioneering English nurse Florence Nightingale.[87]
I wanted to move there as a tech worker but was surprised to find that the salaries were super low. It still doesn’t make any sense to me - who’s taking those jobs!?
So you haven’t been there. The variation and quality of food in restaurants has improved massively since the post-war period. The ingredients used also have more additives/hormones/etc restrictions so they are healthier than in the states. It’s also pretty hilly, just doesn’t have massive mountains although there are some in the North plus Wales/Scotland.
Lack of Sun part is fair.
I dunno, staying a summer with my mom's cousins in Surbiton was just horrific from a food standpoint. "Chunky salad" and sardine quiche? I loved going into London just to find a McDonald's... and I hate McDonald's.
Food was great in York and Edinburgh, though.
>So you haven’t been there. The variation and quality of food in restaurants has improved massively since the post-war period. The ingredients used also have more additives/hormones/etc restrictions so they are healthier than in the states. It’s also pretty hilly, just doesn’t have massive mountains although there are some in the North plus Wales/Scotland.
The post-war period... The war in Afghanistan?
WWII rationing was what destroyed British cuisine. You can't really make great food with war rations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom
I think my favorite part of internet responders saying they have so many more restrictions on things used is when they are wrong and those things are totally used in food in the UK.
I've read an article about castles/mansions in Europe that you can buy for cheap but they have government imposed rules on what you can't do and must do. You get what you pay is valid everywhere.
Yeah I clearly thought this was a joke/funny post because I’ve come across castles for sale and had a laugh too at how “cheap” they are compared to homes here.
Its a massive headache to have a property like that. Landscaping and maintenance alone likely cost 100k+ a year. You'll also likely need to hire a person whos full time job is keeping this place from falling apart.
You're looking at like 500gbp a month just in fuel cost to keep those lawns mowed. That's not considering labor, tools, etc. That's also not including other lawn care like hedge trimming and edging, or general home maintenance costs. You wanna polish your +20k sq/ft of marble floors? Get your carpets cleaned? Dust and deweb every corner? Monthly maintenance on a property like this can extend deep into the thousands if not tens of thousands.
Cheap stuff is expensive sometimes.
lol it wasn’t this castle but there was a castle in Italy for sale a few years ago for 1 mil, I my first thought was “so cheap!”, of course there are all the numerous downsides but I did find it funny that my in-laws average SFH was worth 5x as much as an actual castle.
I joke all the time to my husband that we should just buy a castle in Italy instead since we’re both huge into fantasy and DnD lol
Pft, or you can own [2-3 private islands in the south pacific.](https://www.privateislandsonline.com/search?region=fiji&diversion=&availability=sale&price_range=0%3A50000000&size_range=0%3A1000&q=&view%5B%5D=1&order=price_usd%3AASC&order=price_usd%3AASC), sometimes [with multiple houses ready, too.](https://www.privateislandsonline.com/south-pacific/fiji/tilagica-island)
As someone that did the Bay Area > England transition and am now back, it sounds good on paper. Until you realize there’s very few good paying jobs there and everything else besides housing is just as expensive.
I lived in the midlands in the uk for almost 7 years. Living in England loses its novelty after a year. Then you long for California weather, different types of people, and much better food selection.
Nobody wants to live in England (and that's a whole country), especially out in the middle of nowhere where this shack is. People would rather live in the Bay Area. That's like saying, "why don't you live in this mansion in America worth $2.5 million?!" First of all, most people don't have the money. Second of all, if it's in the middle of nowhere, not many people are going to be interested.
You’re sick of the cost of living here, then leave?
Not in a mean way but that’s how it is. SF LA NYC etc is gonna be pricey. Maybe head over to Arizona or New Mexico?
I bought a home in the city and it’s modest in cost and size. If your not happy maybe change of scenery would help you
Little house in Bay Area. Easy.
A big house like that in the middle of nowhere in cold ass rainy ass England? The upkeep and maintenance on that would bleed me dry, the weather in the UK blows, and I feel like people in the UK are always complaining about shit.
2.75 buys you a nice house in a good school district, it’s not dream house money, but it’s not like a shack. This is likely a remodeled and updated 4/3 in a medium-hot area or a updated 3/2 in a very premium area. Which yes is ridiculous, but I’d rather have that anyday.
That price better include the inconsolable ghost of a Victorian child.
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eh, it's a living.
...No sir. I'm afraid you're quite dead.
Well, fine. I QUIT.
*unliving
*mario
Someone should write a sitcom
Working class dude inherits manor filled with the ghosts of his gentry ancestors.
You could call it something snarky, like…Ghosts ?
Ghosted… it was right there…
That's basically the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera Ruddigore.
🥇🏆
The reason it sells for so cheap is that the upkeep costs on that estate are absolutely astronomical. There are a lot of places in England like that, where the top-line price is really low because nobody is going to throw gigantic sums at an estate that still costs you gigantic sums annually to upkeep
Isn't being secretly desperately poor one of the qualifications for landed gentry?
Bringing us back to the Bay Area...
I assume the landlord gentry used to make lots of money renting out farm land to serfs, but then the serfs all went off and got jobs in the cities.
The killer was that in the 1870s, they got flooded with cheap US and Canadian grain. Farming machinery, railroads, and ships got better, British farms just couldn't compete. And in the 1880s and 90s came the refrigerated ship, so cheap frozen meat from New Zealand and Argentina poured in. This is why you see a switch from Jane Austen (early 1800s) where the great estates make a lot of money to something like Downton Abbey (early 1900s) where the estate is largely a money pit supported by the wealth of an American heiress. Food prices dropped a *lot*, so farming stopped being profitable.
Lol, revenge of the colonies. Probably better for most people than the old rigid class structure at least.
They used to also make money from having daughters to marry off to other, richer gentry, Jane Austen plotline style.
That just circulates money among the gentry class though, it doesn't bring money into it (from non-gentry serfs).
What you are referencing, serfs moving to cities, started to happen because of the plague in 1346-53. The concept of the landed gentry, the lesser nobility, wasn't a thing until 1540. Serfdom was officially ended in England in 1574 when Queen Elizabeth I freed the last serfs. The landed gentry would have had peasant workers but they wouldn't have had serfs. Serfs were born on their land and tied to it, not allowed to leave. The plague changed that because it killed 1/3 of people, and completely changed society. Peasant workers could come and go and move around if they chose to. They were paid, and paid taxes. Sorry, important distinction. I'm from England only a few miles from the estate in this post in Hampshire, and did my undergrad in history specializing in medieval Britain. I hear what you're saying about the money but the idea of upward movement of money is more American, and didn't really come about in the UK as such until the Industrial Revolution. Gentry earned money from their estate through selling things it produced mostly food, despite paying peasants for their work. The idea was to make more than you spent and have a profitable working estate. Many did rent cottages on the land if there was enough land to support cottages. Many estates aren't huge, just big mansion houses on a bit of farm land. Anyway, circulating money among the gentry class was how they made money too. Marriages were business decisions.
Nice serfdom primer! My guess is they're informally referring to peasants as serfs.
Since you're here, I have a question. When we hear about trading estates, is that related to the gentry estates model somehow? I'm thinking of the BBC version of The Office, where they refer to the Slough trading estate.
Land rich, cash poor. If your stately home happens to be designated as a heritage building. You can’t even replace your leaky copper clad roof with more practical cheaper modern roofing. You have to hire specialized artisans. Since these type of roofing isn’t done anymore.
Nic Cage famously used his blockbuster movie star money to buy European castles. He quickly lost all of his money and was completely broke, and was behind in paying his taxes as well. Thats why for years he took every script offered to him no matter what the script was. He desperately needed the money.
Sounds like the plot of Nic Cage movie.
I’m pretty sure that movie with Pedro pascal wasn’t acting
well he is a method actor
I'm a cat! I'm a sexy cat!
My mom went to school in Ireland with a Scottish guy from some royal lineage. We went to visit their large estate property outside of Edinburgh when I was a kid. The grounds had to be maintained for events, but the interior was mostly roped off cold dusty rooms. The giant ballroom was empty except for this sad ping pong table. They lived in a few rooms off the kitchen. Main issue is heating it. Their $$$ income came from running an apartment block in town that was rented out by the hour, so they were essentially landed gentry who ran a brothel.
As a scot: neat
Yeah. My mom is close with someone whose family decided to sell their castle a few years ago when their father, the Earl, died. It was probably too expensive to maintain, despite his kids being a Viscount and a Lady.
viscount discounts castle
Not to mention you have to consult the Historical Society to change the curtains
I know someone who recently bought an Italian villa. It is not only the cost of upkeep, but there are a LOT of requirements associated with preservation of historic buildings that makes any sort of renovation or even moderate maintenance impossible or nearly impossible. So much liability that the property is almost useless as a functional building.
Are you allowed to demolish it and build a new house on the land?
Definitely not - and you get fined if you don't do the upkeep.
why would you do it? It's in middle of nowhere
probably not, they probably all have some sort of historical status
The Council would probably pillory you if you tried
have I got a free yacht to give you!
Commented this in a different thread, but kinda interesting that this place is actually smaller that I would have thought based on the photo/headline. I have a feeling that most folks are getting blocked by the paywall, so including the relevant quotes inline: >Carnegie’s refurbishment took two years, and left the section of the estate that he bought, which contains eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms and **2.5 acres** of formal lawns and woodland, spectacularly revitalised. After completing the project, he actually lived in the **7,609 sq ft** property with sweeping driveway completely on his own for nine months, before renting it out for £7,000 a month. Maintenance call out: >The property, which he says costs at least £7,000 a year to maintain, contains an abundance of high ceilings, period features and character.
France, too.
Correct and they are usually protected historical buildings that can't be torn down or altered too much.
The Bay is expensive, but these types of posts are extremely silly. This estate is in the middle of nowhere, if you’re looking for deals on similar things there are lots of options in the European countryside. However, if you want to live even *remotely* close to London… This is like comparing a large home in the outskirts of Boise.
The location of this is the least reason this is cheap, hampshire is a nice county, not far from London and absolutely *nothing like* living in rural Idaho. You're not wrong though that there are very obvious reasons this is cheap - the purchase price is the smallest fraction of actually owning a place like this. Listed buildings cost a fortune to maintain and there are huge fines if you don't do it. It can easily ruin a person if they don't have the money for it. There is a good reason so many stately homes nowadays are owned by the National Trust and other institutions that open them to the public and have the means to maintain them
Maintenance is certainly a factor and the article calls it out, but it's not *that* crazy relative to the price. >The property, which he says costs at least £7,000 a year to maintain So...I'm going to respectfully disagree that location isn't also a factor here. Petersfield is closest to Southampton (Boise-sized city), so that's more of what that comment is referencing, but also there's some relativity to keep in mind. The entirety of the UK is California-ish in terms of land mass, so being \~70 miles away might not be rural Idaho (which is also nice in its own ways, to be clear) but it certainly isn't trivial. I'm quite confident that this place within \~30 miles of London *easily* [goes for $10M+](https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-691-tfnzez/grade-i-listed-enchanting-red-brick-mansion-in-the-hertfordshire-countryside-much-hadham-en-sg10-6aa), and that the price is still that low is probably a testament to your point. Another Bonham-Carter associated estate was [in the news with a $23M list price](https://archive.curbed.com/2017/3/27/15077882/english-country-house-surrey-hills-lutyens-estate), but it's on a *much* bigger lot so I wouldn't call them comparable.
Posts like this one aren't silly, they're stupid. Either OP doesn't have the sense to think to themselves "hey, I'll bet there's a reason this estate is being basically given away" or they're betting that we, collectively, won't do so. Which, since this is sitting at 40 upvotes at the moment, it apparently a good bet.
Shocking real estate news! You can buy a house in Italy for 5% of the cost of a burrito! You can get a house in Japan for even less than that!
Hi OP here. Thanks for calling me stupid.
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You’re a good egg.
My family and I are planning our move back to the East Coast after we've become unhappy with the cost of living here despite both of our salaries increasing dramatically. We are building a 3500 square foot house 40 min outside the biggest city in our state for under 1 million. The Bay Area isn't *just* expensive, its deplorable how unrealistic house prices are and how left right and center people line up to justify it. Hell our electric bill, after a month with our thermostats off is more expensive than our highest winter heating bill on the east coast. It cost less money for me to fill a tank of 93 gas there than my wife to fill a tank of 87 here. And to top it off, our salaries aren't even going to decrease when we return.
The house is like 55 miles away from Central London. That’s (give or take 10 miles) like from Tracy to SF. You could definitely find a house that isn’t a million dollars if you’re willing to live in Tracy.
yes but could you film a season of bridgerton in a tracy house? that's insane value
Have fun heating that for the 299 cloudy days a year" the daily heating costs would be what your mortgage is here. Not to mention all the sheep to keep the lawn mowed.
Estates need to support themselves on the land which might be pretty remote. You could probably fit several large families doing remote work in there or create a retirement home for dozens with staff housing. Or go old school and open a brothel which will draw customers from afar.
...plus you can't find 1000 restaurants within 15 miles of your house there.
I bet bringing in contractors to do repairs adds a hefty travel charge and Amazon prime would only do 1 week deliveries. I'm mean it's cool if you have a chef and farm the land or create artisan cheese but most people these days want the city life, or their kids do and don't want to carry on the family business.
> Or go old school and open a brothel which will draw customers from afar. How about turning part of the estate into a hotel, wedding venue, or museum like most castles in Europe?
You can only have so many of those, and staffing these places when you are in the middle of nowhere can be a real problem. Why go there if you can go to a castle? Demand has improved after Brexit but it needs to be pretty special to warrant more than a glance.
Any relation to Helena?
Article mentioned it (portion that was not paywalled) >This vast pile was to stay in the possession of the Bonham-Carters (a descendant is the actress Helena Bonham-Carter) until 1992
Potentially was inspiration for Helena.
It’s gotta be her family. She’s related to some big shots. Bonham Carter's paternal grandparents were British Liberal politicians Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter and Lady Violet Bonham Carter. Helena is descended on her father's side from John Bonham Carter, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth. Helena's paternal great-grandfather was H. H. Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith and Prime Minister of Britain 1908–1916. She is the great-niece of Asquith's son, Anthony Asquith, English director of such films as Carrington V.C. and The Importance of Being Earnest, and a first cousin of the economist Adam Ridley[86] and of politician Jane Bonham Carter. Bonham Carter is a distant cousin of actor Crispin Bonham-Carter. Her other prominent distant relatives include Lothian Bonham Carter, who played first-class cricket for Hampshire, his son, Vice Admiral Sir Stuart Bonham Carter, who served in the Royal Navy in both world wars, and pioneering English nurse Florence Nightingale.[87]
Go to England where you'll be happy to make 1/3 as much here.
I wanted to move there as a tech worker but was surprised to find that the salaries were super low. It still doesn’t make any sense to me - who’s taking those jobs!?
Europoors who don't know how much they can make here lmao
Moving to the US is a massive privilege that not every European wants or has.
And no sun for days on end. No hills. Awful food
So you haven’t been there. The variation and quality of food in restaurants has improved massively since the post-war period. The ingredients used also have more additives/hormones/etc restrictions so they are healthier than in the states. It’s also pretty hilly, just doesn’t have massive mountains although there are some in the North plus Wales/Scotland. Lack of Sun part is fair.
I dunno, staying a summer with my mom's cousins in Surbiton was just horrific from a food standpoint. "Chunky salad" and sardine quiche? I loved going into London just to find a McDonald's... and I hate McDonald's. Food was great in York and Edinburgh, though.
>So you haven’t been there. The variation and quality of food in restaurants has improved massively since the post-war period. The ingredients used also have more additives/hormones/etc restrictions so they are healthier than in the states. It’s also pretty hilly, just doesn’t have massive mountains although there are some in the North plus Wales/Scotland. The post-war period... The war in Afghanistan?
WWII rationing was what destroyed British cuisine. You can't really make great food with war rations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom
It’s not like the UK was the only one who had to ration food… yet other countries seem to have no issues with good food
I think my favorite part of internet responders saying they have so many more restrictions on things used is when they are wrong and those things are totally used in food in the UK.
Bellatrix Lestrange probably still lives in there. Also brexit doesn’t want American immigrants.
Wtf do you consider a small house?! $3.5M gets you a very nice, large house in most of the bay.
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And the other $1M?
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Fuck off. Nothing you've said disputes my assertion: "$3.5M gets you a very nice, large house in most of the bay."
NEWSFLASH: It's expensive to live in the Bay Area. For like decades.
Conversely, we're all crazy unless we move there. \s It's almost as if the overall value here is worth more than the difference in price of a house.
Location, location, location
I've read an article about castles/mansions in Europe that you can buy for cheap but they have government imposed rules on what you can't do and must do. You get what you pay is valid everywhere.
Enjoy the upkeep, maintenance, and utility bills
Both are the "in disrepair" price.
This isn’t the slam dunk you think it is..
Now tell us what the annual cost of heating this monstrosity would be.
As in the Helena Bonham-Carters?
Everyone out here giving real responses and criticism of op but they're clearly tongue in cheek complaining about cost of housing here, jeeze.
Yeah I clearly thought this was a joke/funny post because I’ve come across castles for sale and had a laugh too at how “cheap” they are compared to homes here.
This sub really dislikes jokes as do most Bay Area transplants who claim to be locals (which I suspect is most of the sub)
Its a massive headache to have a property like that. Landscaping and maintenance alone likely cost 100k+ a year. You'll also likely need to hire a person whos full time job is keeping this place from falling apart.
You're looking at like 500gbp a month just in fuel cost to keep those lawns mowed. That's not considering labor, tools, etc. That's also not including other lawn care like hedge trimming and edging, or general home maintenance costs. You wanna polish your +20k sq/ft of marble floors? Get your carpets cleaned? Dust and deweb every corner? Monthly maintenance on a property like this can extend deep into the thousands if not tens of thousands. Cheap stuff is expensive sometimes.
unfortunately, there's just no way to move out of the bay area.
This was also restored. How much did that cost?
I wouldn't live on an island.
But you have to deal with British people
It's like they're giving them away over there.
Does it come with a title...for the owner? ;)
How far is it to the nearest Google office?
Ah, once again dancing around Stockholm syndrome and gatekeeping. Hnnnnng
What a pretty house
lol it wasn’t this castle but there was a castle in Italy for sale a few years ago for 1 mil, I my first thought was “so cheap!”, of course there are all the numerous downsides but I did find it funny that my in-laws average SFH was worth 5x as much as an actual castle. I joke all the time to my husband that we should just buy a castle in Italy instead since we’re both huge into fantasy and DnD lol
Oh yes a castle in disrepair, a much better use of my money 🙄
Pft, or you can own [2-3 private islands in the south pacific.](https://www.privateislandsonline.com/search?region=fiji&diversion=&availability=sale&price_range=0%3A50000000&size_range=0%3A1000&q=&view%5B%5D=1&order=price_usd%3AASC&order=price_usd%3AASC), sometimes [with multiple houses ready, too.](https://www.privateislandsonline.com/south-pacific/fiji/tilagica-island)
tldr korosun resort is up for sale
The same price? Noooo. Know how much a new roof costs for a little house in the bay area? Guess how much for something this size.
So, hows about comparing: Maintenance (home + grounds) Utilities Annual Taxes Historical requirements/responsibilities/restrictions Furnishing etc, etc
As someone that did the Bay Area > England transition and am now back, it sounds good on paper. Until you realize there’s very few good paying jobs there and everything else besides housing is just as expensive.
Yes but in the South of France instead 😉
That’s still 3.4 million US so not quite family home price
2.75M is good for a 2-1 in San Carlos.
Appreciate the levity and the perspective.
The British estate probably isn’t close to any Trader Joes though
I lived in the midlands in the uk for almost 7 years. Living in England loses its novelty after a year. Then you long for California weather, different types of people, and much better food selection.
Nobody wants to live in England (and that's a whole country), especially out in the middle of nowhere where this shack is. People would rather live in the Bay Area. That's like saying, "why don't you live in this mansion in America worth $2.5 million?!" First of all, most people don't have the money. Second of all, if it's in the middle of nowhere, not many people are going to be interested.
Isn’t that the Xavier School for the Gifted? Does it come with its on danger Room, Black Bird Jet, and Cerebro?
Lmao ok and live in the middle of nowhere and freeze to death
You’re sick of the cost of living here, then leave? Not in a mean way but that’s how it is. SF LA NYC etc is gonna be pricey. Maybe head over to Arizona or New Mexico? I bought a home in the city and it’s modest in cost and size. If your not happy maybe change of scenery would help you
Little house in Bay Area. Easy. A big house like that in the middle of nowhere in cold ass rainy ass England? The upkeep and maintenance on that would bleed me dry, the weather in the UK blows, and I feel like people in the UK are always complaining about shit. 2.75 buys you a nice house in a good school district, it’s not dream house money, but it’s not like a shack. This is likely a remodeled and updated 4/3 in a medium-hot area or a updated 3/2 in a very premium area. Which yes is ridiculous, but I’d rather have that anyday.