Live like the king of your own hill in this fortress of yore.
In the north of England, the 900-year-old Appleby Castle, once the palace of bona fide kings and queens, now seeks a deep-pocketed buyer to call it home, Bloomberg reports.
“A unique relic from medieval England,” the estate boasts 22 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms and is set on 25 acres of enclosed parkland, according to its listing, which is priced at $11.87 million and held by United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty’s Guy Bradshaw.
Built in the 12th century, the historically designated property offers such monarchical amenities as a 13th-century round tower, a 15th-century dining room, two Great Halls (one from the 15th century, the other from the 12th), a medieval gate known as a portcullis, a pitched slate and lead roof, sandstone walls and three open-plan cottages.
There are also more timeless features — multiple offices, store rooms galore and fishing rights to the River Eden, which is conveniently located at the foot of the grand residence — and some modern niceties, including a gym, a hot tub and a sauna room.
The seller is a woman named Sally Nightingale, whose ex-husband was “a castle fanatic” and decided to add Appleby to their two-castle-strong collection in 1997, she told Bloomberg.
Just over a decade ago, in 2013, she converted most of the space into a hotel, leaving herself a 7,750-square-foot wing.
Although the castle was “habitable, in good order” when the former couple purchased it, they still sunk a pretty penny into restoring the Norman keep, re-leading the roof and coordinating the interiors to the appropriate era, she told the publication.
“There were some furnishings, but they weren’t the right period,” she recalled of the mostly Victorian furnishings the property came with. “So we had to put things to match the authentic things that were already there.”
Although she believes the present furnishings ought to stay in the house when it sells “there’s one or two pieces I’d like to keep, wherever I go.”
