Phantom folly: 14-floor tower inspired by 'the ghost of Christopher Wren' back on sale with £1.5m price hike

A 220-ft high New Forest folly inspired by "the ghost of Christopher Wren" has returned to the market with a £3.5 million price tag after almost being raffled off by its long-term owner.

The 14-floor tower in the national park village of Sway, near Lymington, was built in the late Victorian era by wealthy landowner and known eccentric Andrew Thomas Turton Peterson.

Following a trip to India Peterson became a spiritualist, consulted a medium and heard St Paul’s Cathedral architect Wren encouraging him to set about constructing a folly as a way of giving unemployed locals a job for six years.

Styled after the mud and cement towers Peterson had admired in India, it was the first building in Britain to be made of non-reinforced concrete and is believed to be the tallest structure in the world built in that way.

In the 1880s it cost about £30,000 to build — the equivalent of over £3 million in today's money.

The Tower, now Grade II-listed, has been owned by businessman Paul Atlas for the last 45 years.

He bought it as little more than a fancy shed in 1973 for £2,600.

It had no floors, windows or doors and Peterson had been banned from installing gas and electricity in case ships mistook the tower for a lighthouse.

It was full of 100 years' worth of smelly pigeon droppings and sandbags left by the Home Guard after its use as a defence against enemy aircraft during the war.

Paul, who lived next-door at the time, used it as a simple workshop for 17 years before it took a battering during the Great Storm of 1987.

He employed a team of local builders to renovate it, helped financially by English Heritage and local councils and ran it as a restaurant, boutique hotel and wedding venue (once hosting 200 guests in a marquee over the tennis court) until the mid-Nineties, when he and wife Julie moved in to raise their two children.

The couple estimate that they have spent over £750,000 on the tower over the years, from installing 73 "bombproof" double-glazed windows to waterproofing the roof.

They even installed a lightning conductor, which is just as well as the property has been hit at least 10 times.

The Tower currently has four en suite bedrooms, each taking up a full floor, but there is scope to add a further four by renovating further up. Paul earned £585 a night from hotel bookings three decades ago, suggesting scope for a very successful business today.

The 60ft indoor swimming pool and panoramic views across to the Solent and the Isle of Wight are sure to tempt guests — though there are 330 steps up the spiral staircase to the lookout at the top.

There is 4,700 sq ft of living space across 14 large rooms, including a linked cosy sitting room with wood-burning stove, raised central dining room and spacious modern kitchen lit by salvaged stained glass lights.

The glass frame of the conservatory has been shaped to resemble the beautiful Gothic arched doors of the church-like tower.

Three of the upper floors are currently let to two mobile phone operators and the emergency services, bringing in a passive income of £35,000 a year.

Outside, there is a walled lawned garden extending to nearly three-quarters of an acre, the aforementioned tennis court, a garage and several outbuildings which could be converted into studio space.

Paul and Julie first listed their home in 2016 for "offers in excess of £2m". There was some tentative interest, but after realising they "no longer felt comfortable" with the marketing strategy or market conditions at the time, they took the property off sale.

Not afraid to think outside the box, the couple considered more creative ways of selling, including raffling off the Tower, but never proceeded with this, again due to marketing concerns.

It returned to the market about a month ago with the significantly higher price tag that Paul had always hoped to get for it and there has been at least one "very positive" viewing so far.

"The Tower is a very special place, it has the most marvellous atmosphere and the proportions exude calm and inspire," he said.

"You cannot take things with you from this life and we see it as a task to quietly put it into capable hands for the future."

The couple hope that "an inspired spirit with enthusiasm and energy" will take over and enjoy The Tower's offer of "a less ordinary life".

Shaun Ascough, founder of VIP International Homes, who are marketing the property, describes it as a kind of "very unique landmark" rarely found within one of the UK's national parks.

"We think the new owners will either want The Tower as their main or holiday home residence or view it as a commercial opportunity," he said.

"It is truly irreplaceable as once it is sold there is no chance of anyone else building or owning anything remotely like this within the New Forest National Park."