Anyone for a fixer-upper with a cuppa?
A brew with a view? You can see why selling sculptor Ian Hunter's teapot house would be a welcome job for any estate agent.
While cynical readers will always be cautious about the perils of estate agent speak, in this case the temptation to read between the lines is overwhelming. Conveniently located? Well not any more: the owner's lease has run out. Detached? How many terraced teapots have you seen? Original features? you're not kidding.
In truth, Mr Hunter's summer house offers charming eccentricity: entered by stairs through its handle, with timber drying area lying below a sitting area, under an attractively glazed "lid". It's not the Ritz, of course, although the chance to relocate this property is one of its selling points, if you wanted to move it there. The estate agent suggests other options, such as using it as a hobbit-hut (which must limit the potential buyers).
So, there's no need to spout on about this property. And yet: Is it fair to describe a teapot house as leafy? Best suiting someone who is short and stout? Plenty of storage room for all your bags? Cosy? Ah, here's the fatal flaw - there isn't one.
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