Post by IggyWiggy on Jan 10, 2016 16:42:46 GMT
Here’s your chance to own a genuine piece of Banksy artwork painted on the side of a house up for sale.
Art collectors have been known to splash out six-figure sums on pieces of Banksy art but now they have the opportunity to get a property thrown in with the deal.
Buyers on the lookout for a truly unique property need look no further than this Grade II listed property in Cheltenham, which features a Banksy mural on an exterior wall. It has a guide price of £210,000.
The famous Spy Booth artwork appeared on the gable end of the three-bedroom property, located just a few miles from the headquarters for GCHQ, Britain’s intelligence and security agency, in April 2014.
Depicting secret agents listening in on a public phone box with devices, it quickly became a tourist attraction after attracting media headlines.
The artwork appeared just months after Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, exposed intelligence techniques used by the secret services through the leak of classified documents to several newspapers.
“A rare opportunity to acquire a Grade II listed, Victorian, three bedroom end terrace property with a genuine 'Banksy' on the gable wall!” the listing explains.
“The property is being offered for sale with no onward chain and requires a comprehensive schedule of refurbishment offering accommodation comprising, entrance hall with doors to the living room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and stairs up to the first floor.
“On the first floor are three bedrooms and a bathroom which is fitted with a coloured suite. To the rear of the property is a patio courtyard.”
The mural has been vandalised and targeted by thieves since it first appeared and is currently surrounded by metal railings.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12090285/Banksy-mural-house-with-Spy-Booth-artwork-put-up-for-sale.html
The three-bedroom terrace has stood empty since the famous graffiti artist sprayed it with three secret agents gathered round a phone box.
Thousands of tourists have flocked to see the "Spybooth" art work.
But owner David Possee has been unable to rent out the house - near the secret GCHQ surveillance base - since elusive Banksy used the outside wall of the sitting room as his latest canvas.
One Banksy collector in the United States offered dad-of-two David £1,097,000 to take down the mural and move it to his home in New York.
But the local council quickly gave the eight-foot high stencil listed building protection to stop it being altered in any way without their permission.
Vandals have staged two attacks on the 1950s spooks in brown trench coats and property developer David, aged 46, has now put the house in Cheltenham, Glos, on the market for £350,000.
He said yesterday: "I liked it at the beginning but it's become a bit of a poison chalice.
"I haven't been able to rent out the house for 18 months and my income has taken a hit.
"It's great to see the smile on people's faces when they stand in the phone box with the door open to have their photo taken.
One newly married couple had all their wedding pictures taken here and around 500 tourists a day were coming to see the mural at it's height.
"People turn up in the middle of the night and tenants don't like the lack of privacy.
"But the mural makes the house kind of unique and I'm probably under-valuing it and £350,000.
"People have offered to pay me treble that just for the mural - and now they are getting a house thrown in as well.
"It could be a great draw for Cheltenham and I think the mural should stay in situ - just not on the side of my house.
"I don't have deep enough pockets to maintain and protect the mural but I think it's one of the best pieces Banksy has done."
David bought the former coach house a decade ago to live in with his partner Louise Price,41, and their two children. But they decided to rent it out after school administrator Louise wanted to stay at their home in Gloucester which had a bigger garden.
The couple were on holiday in Majorca in April 2014 when a friend phoned David to tell him about the art work.
David said: "I thought it was a wind-up to be honest.
"My pal said: 'your house has been vandalised by some Bristol bloke called Banksy' - and then he just cracked up.
"I said: 'You're having a laugh'.
"I suppose the house would be worth around £220,000 without the Banksy which is protected by vandal-proof paint and can be restored to its former glory."
Estate Agent Julian Carter, who is handling the sale, said "This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.
"After all, it's not every day that a property with a Banksy attached comes on the market. I'm sure there will be local and international interest."
Owner David offered to sell the house to Cheltenham Borough Council to preserve the mural - but they have so far been unable to agree a price..
Council chief executive Andrew North said recently: "I am aware that most members on the Council would like to see the mural retained and promoted as an asset to the town .
“But, in this age of austerity, we don't have the funds to go outside the valuation we have put on the property and the Banksy in its current state."
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/house-banksy-mural-mocking-gchq-7143695
Art collectors have been known to splash out six-figure sums on pieces of Banksy art but now they have the opportunity to get a property thrown in with the deal.
Buyers on the lookout for a truly unique property need look no further than this Grade II listed property in Cheltenham, which features a Banksy mural on an exterior wall. It has a guide price of £210,000.
The famous Spy Booth artwork appeared on the gable end of the three-bedroom property, located just a few miles from the headquarters for GCHQ, Britain’s intelligence and security agency, in April 2014.
Depicting secret agents listening in on a public phone box with devices, it quickly became a tourist attraction after attracting media headlines.
The artwork appeared just months after Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, exposed intelligence techniques used by the secret services through the leak of classified documents to several newspapers.
“A rare opportunity to acquire a Grade II listed, Victorian, three bedroom end terrace property with a genuine 'Banksy' on the gable wall!” the listing explains.
“The property is being offered for sale with no onward chain and requires a comprehensive schedule of refurbishment offering accommodation comprising, entrance hall with doors to the living room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and stairs up to the first floor.
“On the first floor are three bedrooms and a bathroom which is fitted with a coloured suite. To the rear of the property is a patio courtyard.”
The mural has been vandalised and targeted by thieves since it first appeared and is currently surrounded by metal railings.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12090285/Banksy-mural-house-with-Spy-Booth-artwork-put-up-for-sale.html
The three-bedroom terrace has stood empty since the famous graffiti artist sprayed it with three secret agents gathered round a phone box.
Thousands of tourists have flocked to see the "Spybooth" art work.
But owner David Possee has been unable to rent out the house - near the secret GCHQ surveillance base - since elusive Banksy used the outside wall of the sitting room as his latest canvas.
One Banksy collector in the United States offered dad-of-two David £1,097,000 to take down the mural and move it to his home in New York.
But the local council quickly gave the eight-foot high stencil listed building protection to stop it being altered in any way without their permission.
Vandals have staged two attacks on the 1950s spooks in brown trench coats and property developer David, aged 46, has now put the house in Cheltenham, Glos, on the market for £350,000.
He said yesterday: "I liked it at the beginning but it's become a bit of a poison chalice.
"I haven't been able to rent out the house for 18 months and my income has taken a hit.
"It's great to see the smile on people's faces when they stand in the phone box with the door open to have their photo taken.
One newly married couple had all their wedding pictures taken here and around 500 tourists a day were coming to see the mural at it's height.
"People turn up in the middle of the night and tenants don't like the lack of privacy.
"But the mural makes the house kind of unique and I'm probably under-valuing it and £350,000.
"People have offered to pay me treble that just for the mural - and now they are getting a house thrown in as well.
"It could be a great draw for Cheltenham and I think the mural should stay in situ - just not on the side of my house.
"I don't have deep enough pockets to maintain and protect the mural but I think it's one of the best pieces Banksy has done."
David bought the former coach house a decade ago to live in with his partner Louise Price,41, and their two children. But they decided to rent it out after school administrator Louise wanted to stay at their home in Gloucester which had a bigger garden.
The couple were on holiday in Majorca in April 2014 when a friend phoned David to tell him about the art work.
David said: "I thought it was a wind-up to be honest.
"My pal said: 'your house has been vandalised by some Bristol bloke called Banksy' - and then he just cracked up.
"I said: 'You're having a laugh'.
"I suppose the house would be worth around £220,000 without the Banksy which is protected by vandal-proof paint and can be restored to its former glory."
Estate Agent Julian Carter, who is handling the sale, said "This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.
"After all, it's not every day that a property with a Banksy attached comes on the market. I'm sure there will be local and international interest."
Owner David offered to sell the house to Cheltenham Borough Council to preserve the mural - but they have so far been unable to agree a price..
Council chief executive Andrew North said recently: "I am aware that most members on the Council would like to see the mural retained and promoted as an asset to the town .
“But, in this age of austerity, we don't have the funds to go outside the valuation we have put on the property and the Banksy in its current state."
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/house-banksy-mural-mocking-gchq-7143695
