It’s amazing what you can pick up at a property auction.
You may expect to find terraced homes in the Valleys or even a property with sitting tenants somewhere in the city.
But how about a nine-bedroom French chateau-style mansion complete with swimming pool in two acres of grounds near Swansea?
Well, Newport-based property auction firm Paul Fosh Auctions has recently sold just that – for £900,000, more than £200,000 more than the guide price.
Historic Plas Cilybebyll, a private country residence at Pontardawe, near Swansea, was listed with a guide price of £735,000.
The identity of the new owners of the 200-year-old property, which comes with a modern 10m swimming pool, has not been made public – although it’s known that they’re local.
The Gothic-style property is set over three floors and comes with a cellar, wine store, Victorian tennis pavilion converted into an orangery called the Petit Chateau and another historic building the grounds called The Bakehouse.
The manicured and tree-abundant garden of the mansion has a walled Italian-style lower area, two formal ponds, a domed folly and a ruined water mill
Paul Fosh, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, who welcomed the BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer cameras to the sale in Cardiff, said: “Understandably there was immense interest ahead of the sale of this stunning and unique property. Interest was such that we even had an number of substantial offers ahead of the ballroom sale which were well above the guide price.
“In the end a pair of bidders fought it out in the room after bidding started at £800,000 with the property eventually going under the hammer for £900,000.
“The new, local owners, who know the property well, are thrilled with their purchase as we are at being able to auction and secure a buyer for such a fine and culturally important property.
“I’d think it’d certainly be of interest to viewers if Plas Cilybebyll is featured on TV’s Homes Under the Hammer – it’s certainly a bit different.”