Buy a Torpedo-Testing Facility

[Image: A former torpedo-testing facility, now a £4 million private home; courtesy of Knight Frank].

This £4 million property located in the suburbs southwest of London “must be one of the most unique spaces to have come to the market in recent local history,” estate agents Knight Frank justifiably claim.

[Images: Former torpedo-testing facility in the London suburbs; courtesy of Knight Frank].

After all, it is “a former torpedo testing tank, set within the wonderful Royal Park of Bushy, close to Hampton Court, converted into an amazing house.”

Standing within walled private gardens of 1.3 acres and extending to approximately 10,133 sq ft (940 sq m) this curved property offers not only a great and unique space but the potential to create a very special property indeed… The site was used by the Admiralty during the Second World War and was a circular domed building containing a 46m pool used to test torpedoes as they spun around at the end of a metal arm. After the war, the architects Norman and Dawbarn were commissioned to turn the tank into a modern house. They utilised the 4ft thick “blast proof” curved concrete walls in a very contemporary style using an abundance of glass and aluminium beneath a copper roof to create a very light and open space. There is huge scope to further improve the property and make use of large subterranean areas to provide a fabulous leisure facility.

Being able to say—without lying—that your house has the form it does because, long ago, “torpedoes as they spun around at the end of a metal arm” outlined its foundational geometry would be awesome, indeed.

[Image: The kitchen of a former torpedo-testing facility; courtesy of Knight Frank].

And while £4 million seems a bit steep, if you can still test torpedoes in the basement—while boiling you and your mysterious Eastern European paramour a pot of strozzapreti in the roomy kitchen up above—then it’s probably worth every cent.

(Via City A.M., indirectly on a tip from Mountain. Earlier: Buy a Fort, Buy a Church, Buy a Silk Mill).