For sale - a Buxton landmark

ROBERT Rippon Duke is fondly remembered as the Architect of Buxton, responsible for many of the spa town's great buildings, including the magnificent Dome and the Octagon.

So when it came to a place of his own, he chose a similar grand style and used many of the same craftsmen to build Park House, an Italianate double-fronted pile. He lived there for 40 years in exuberant and often eccentric style.

Completed in 1860, it had nine bedrooms, numerous drawing rooms, huge kitchens, a magnificent porch tiled in Minton and on one outside wall the first domestic hydraulic lift in England.

Rumour has it that Rippon Duke would canter his horse straight into the stables behind the house, not bothering to dismount until inside, then he would fling himself from the saddle, take the lift up to his chosen floor where he would then take the temperature in every floor in the house before settling on the one that was least cold!

Sadly, the lift is now gone and the house, though retaining many treasures like original stone carvings and many fireplaces, is now divided into three separate apartments.

But in one of those strange quirks, all three are up for sale. So, if anyone had the inclination and the cash, they could restore this historic house back into one magnificent family home.

Boom

More realistic, perhaps, is that one person could buy all three, live in the large five-bedroom duplex at the bottom and rent out the other two apartments in a town that is experiencing a rental boom.

A university campus has just opened located in Rippon Duke's Dome - the Crescent Hotel is undergoing as multi-million pound renovation and more new-build schemes from Gleeson and Fairclough are bringing in fresh faces.

Whichever way it splits, it is a unique investment opportunity and not lost on Julia Brosnan and her partner Alan Williams, who currently own and live on the ground floor and own and rent the top floor.

They need to move to be nearer Julia's work as communications manager for North West Community Forest, based in Warrington.

Their neighbours and friends in the middle apartment are Diane Gregory and Martin Bain, who decided that the time was right to move on, in their case to a village just outside Grenada in southern Spain, where they are having a house built.

Julia said: "The house was converted into apartments just after the Second World War and no one locally can remember when all three last came onto the market at the same time.

"They are all very big and could sell to three separate individuals but it is an amazing chance for someone to buy all three so they own the entire building."

While buying three means that the conveyancing fees are going to be tripled, you would make a significant saving on the dreaded stamp duty.

Apartment One has five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a magnificent study, two reception rooms, two hallways - which are big enough to be rooms. Plus you get all the surrounding gardens, a garage and a storeroom attached to the house. It is on the market for £330,000.

Apartment Two, in the middle, has three bedrooms, a modern bathroom, a kitchen with dining area and a large living area. Its sale price is £249,995.

Apartment Three, at the top, again has three beds, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room and is for sale for £199,995.

Buy them individually and you will have to pay £14,400 in stamp duty. But if you were buying the whole house at £780,000 you would have to be paying the Chancellor £31,200.

Demand

Julia said: "We have been renting out the top floor apartment to a professional couple and getting £550 a month. There is a big demand for period property at the moment.

"We have loved living here. The house is one of the stopping points on a walking tour of Victorian Buxton so once a year we have crowds of people stopped outside the gate. But it is quite a privilege to be living in a house that is such an important historical and architectural landmark.

"While the commute into Manchester is perfectly possible, I am just finding the extra leg of the journey too much and we are planning to move to the city centre."

Diane was born in Buxton and returned with Matthew in 1999. She said: "What is so nice about the apartment is that it occupies an entire floor so we have views all around.

"It is very spacious and we use one of the bedrooms as a meditation room and another as a study. We have done it simply and the light from the windows is lovely.

"Rippon Duke did not skimp on materials. There are big skirtings and wonderful cornices, although the amazing conservatory and aviary at the back have long gone.

She adds: "There is a lot happening in Buxton right now, the latte society seems to be arriving!"

More information on Apartments One and Three on 01298 78020 or 07870 306867. For Apartment Two, contact Cheshire Property Services on 01298 71053.