june-2010

PROPERTY
Property
SMALLEST ROOM
WITH A VIEW
News
Many people dream of buying
and renovating their own
home, but for one couple in
Yorkshire that dream has
proved a little bit more
unusual than most. Tracy
Woodhouse and Graham
Peck decided that a public
toilet in Scarborough with
beautiful beach views was
UNDERGROUND/
76JetAway
the place for them, and what
was once the ladies’ lavatory
is now their bathroom.
The property was built as
an ammunition store before
being used as a public toilet
for 100 years, then closing in
the early 1990s. When its
lease came up, the pair
bought it, spending £35,000
on renovations. “We understand
the amusement,” says
Woodhouse. “It tickles us,
too. Our TV set is where the
OVERGROUND
Claiming he’s after “a bit of
an adventure”, Alessandro
Benetton (above) commissioned
Japanese architect
Tadao Ando to build a fourbedroom
home in Ponzano,
near Venice, which extends
4m underground. Nestled
below a number of Teletubbystyle
hills that protect it from
view, the Benettons’ “invisible
house” will have to be
seen to be believed.
GRECIAN EARNER
Cash-strapped Greece
should be made to repay its
debts by selling off some of
its uninhabited, state-owned
islands, according to German
politician Josef Schlarmann.
“What should a bankrupt
person be doing?” he asks.
“Selling everything he owns
to pay his creditors.”
So just how much does an
island paradise cost? Well, if
you have a spare £13m you
could buy St Thomas, just
20 minutes off the coast of
Athens, while £1.3m will get
you a pine-clad island in the
Gulf of Corinth. As the islands
can retail for up to £130m –
the fi gure Athina Onassis is
currently selling Skorpios for
– this could be turn out to be
a real money-spinner for
Greece. However, given that
it’s looking for a bail-out of
£95bn, it would still be just
a drop in the ocean…
COSTA DEL
LIMASSOL
Limassol, a Jet2Holidays.com
destination that’s just a short
drive away from both Paphos
and Larnaca, is becoming
increasingly popular with UK
home buyers looking for
their own place in the sun.
The latest development to
stir up interest is the Kanika
Kypros Gardenia, a complex
of luxury apartments located
a mere 100m away from the
Mediterranean. The building
is comprised of 20 homes
spread over seven floors,
several of which have their
own private swimming pools.
Residents will also have
access to a tropical park,
a 27m pool, a large gym with
sauna and massage area,
wine cellars and 24-hour
security. See www.kanika
AGENCY
PARRY ROSS GETTY,
developments.com for more
gents’ urinals used to be!” information.
PHOTOS