r otherhithe’s ‘most unusua L property’ is going up for auction

By Isabel Ramirez isabel@southwarknews.co.uk

A hOUSe known as the ‘leaning tower of rotherhithe’, which was said to be once owned by winston Churchill’s nephew, is going up for auction.

On March 1, the solitary white tall house that stands on the riverbank of the Thames in Rotherhithe will go up for auction.

It has become known locally as the “leaning tower of Rotherhithe” - perhaps due to the fact it was once surrounded by other properties, some of which were destroyed during the Blitz.

The auction guide price is £1.5m and as the only house on the street, it does boast unobstructed views of the city.

Originally part of a row of buildings and known as 41 Rotherhithe Street, the property was once owned by Victorian barge company Braithwaite & Dean and used as the office where lightermen — workers on lighter, flat-bottomed barges who carried cargoes from larger ships— would pull up to collect their wages.

A spokesperson from auctioneers

Savills said: “It’s the most unusual property we’ve had to come up at auction for a long time and is the only house on this particular street in Rotherhithe.”

The building is located on what was formerly 41 Rotherhithe Street, now 1 Fulford Street. Between 1937 and 1939

Winston Churchill’s nephew, Esmond Romilly is reported to have lived there with his wife, author and socialite Jessica Mitford.

Although this is up for debate some say 41 Rotherhithe Street, was part of an ‘80s redevelopment and is now part of Bermondsey Wall East, others say it once stood near the old Braithwaite and Dean building, now in Fulford Street.

Years later Lord Snowdon the former husband of Princess Margaret, lived further along the row in a former coal store while he was courting the Queen’s sister and was a jobbing photographer.

The buildings to the west of the house were destroyed during the Blitz in World War Two.

Some of the properties to the east remained and were bought in the ‘60s by London County Council, but the barge constructors refused to sell this particular house. The other remaining properties were part of a plan to extend Southwark Park to the river.

The current owners have lived there for nearly three decades, but plan to move out of London, according to Savills. The property still has stairs leading around the side of the building down to the river.

Initially, the current owners occupied the whole building, but later rented out the top two floors and used the bottom two as a live/work space, with a studio on the ground floor.

There are, therefore, two kitchens in the building, along with two open-plan living areas, three additional reception rooms, two bathrooms, a bedroom and a spare room. With the capacity to change the rooms around, increase the number of bedrooms or convert the building into flats, it is being advertised as a “blank canvas” for buyers.

“It entirely depends on how you want to use it…it’s versatile in that regard,” said Lot Negotiator Steven Morish. “But I think you’ll always keep that top floor as the living area because that’s where you get the amazing views. The seller has set the sofas at a higher level than they would normally be so you can see 180 degrees. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before.”