Seaside Tolkien Home For Sale - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lalwendë · 11-05-2006, 11:46 AM

Yours, for just £1m. I vote for sending Mithalwen down the road to check it out. She could easily pose as a prospective buyer.

the guy who be short · 11-05-2006, 04:41 PM

I wonder if the current owner changed anything... could we go back in time to Tolkien?

Hilde Bracegirdle · 11-05-2006, 04:45 PM

Maybe the Downs should take up a collection and make a bid.

One million seems a bit steep though, for a Barrow-Downs holiday home.

Bêthberry · 11-05-2006, 05:12 PM

a suburban bungalow? and modern and in some kind of mass-build sub-division?

Lalwendë · 11-05-2006, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

I wonder if the current owner changed anything... could we go back in time to Tolkien?

Well they've had UPVC windows put in and I strongly suspect that Tolkien would not have approved of those, even if they had such a thing back then! But the estate agent blurb states that the sale includes a fireplace that Tolkien had had installed. It's a shame there are no pictures, which is why I suggest some subterfuge and a mission to investigate...

Bb - I don't think it will be a 'mass-build' type neighbourhood in that particular area, or at least the residents would not like to think so; they'd probably like to think of it as 'exclusive' rather than suburban, which has unpleasantly lower middle-class connotations.

Might be worth a nosey on Google Earth though...

The last Tolkien house up for sale, 22 Northmoor Road (which is very suburban) went for a whopping sum too, and when I was there in September I was surprised to see the owner, a man in his late 50s/early 60s, pottering about washing an M Reg Golf rather than a Porsche - might have been a real Tolkien fan who broke the bank to live there? Incidentally, at Northmoor Road they still have the trellis put up by Tolkien in the 30s, which was amazing to see.

Rune Son of Bjarne · 11-05-2006, 08:44 PM

I think we should buy it as a club-house. . .a place where members could hang out whenever they needed to read Tolkien, talk Tolkien or just enjoy each others company, but wait! What would we need The Barrow-Downs for then ?

Mithalwen · 11-06-2006, 11:30 AM

It is a fabulous location - backs on to a mini Rivendell and in a very exclusive area ..I have pics in my camera .... when I wen to Branksome Chine in the summer ... but it doe sit in the most expensive part of a generally expensive area - and is probably the cheapest house on the street..

Lalwendë · 11-07-2006, 02:25 AM

Was it always this expensive? I'm curious because in the new Companion & Guide it mentions that Tolkien and Edith had to give up 22 Northmoor Road after most of the children had grown due to being unable to afford the expense. They then moved to a much smaller house on Holywell Street in the city centre (effectively a terraced house, albeit one with part of the medieval city walls as part of the garden wall). Later he lived at Headington, but again not in a big house - at this time he'd had to remove his enormous library from Merton College after retirement and he struggled to find storage for it, which is why he converted the garage, but all the same large numbers of his books had to be given up. I wonder just how much of his Rings income he spent on his retirement home? He strikes me as having been a very prudent man, through necessity.

11-05-2006, 11:46 AM	#1
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,814	Seaside Tolkien Home For Sale Yours, for just £1m. I vote for sending Mithalwen down the road to check it out. She could easily pose as a prospective buyer. __________________ Gordon's alive!

11-05-2006, 05:12 PM	#4
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,170	The horror, the horror of retirement a suburban bungalow? and modern and in some kind of mass-build sub-division? __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

11-06-2006, 11:30 AM	#7
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,916	It is a fabulous location - backs on to a mini Rivendell and in a very exclusive area ..I have pics in my camera .... when I wen to Branksome Chine in the summer ... but it doe sit in the most expensive part of a generally expensive area - and is probably the cheapest house on the street.. __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace

11-07-2006, 02:25 AM	#8
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,814	Was it always this expensive? I'm curious because in the new Companion & Guide it mentions that Tolkien and Edith had to give up 22 Northmoor Road after most of the children had grown due to being unable to afford the expense. They then moved to a much smaller house on Holywell Street in the city centre (effectively a terraced house, albeit one with part of the medieval city walls as part of the garden wall). Later he lived at Headington, but again not in a big house - at this time he'd had to remove his enormous library from Merton College after retirement and he struggled to find storage for it, which is why he converted the garage, but all the same large numbers of his books had to be given up. I wonder just how much of his Rings income he spent on his retirement home? He strikes me as having been a very prudent man, through necessity. __________________ Gordon's alive!

11-05-2006, 04:41 PM	#2
the guy who be short Shadowed Prince Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Thulcandra Posts: 2,496	I wonder if the current owner changed anything... could we go back in time to Tolkien?

11-05-2006, 04:45 PM	#3
Hilde Bracegirdle Relic of Wandering Days Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: You'll See Perpetual Change. Posts: 1,488	Maybe the Downs should take up a collection and make a bid. One million seems a bit steep though, for a Barrow-Downs holiday home.