Priory Street, Carmarthen

We have a couple of properties we'd like to buy at the moment, so we're open to offers in the hope that we can move forward on them. Don't be shy: we won't be offended. iamtheagent.com/property-for-sale/united-kingdom/carmarthen/houses/property-18039.

144 is a lovely, grand house - there are three floors, plus attic, each floor has four main rooms arranged either side of a two metre wide main hallway running front to back, with extra smaller rooms here and there. Each main room is roughly four metres square, with high ceiling heights. The big windows keep the whole house light and give a sense of space and freedom. The thick walls help to keep the heat in, hence the EPC assessment of D.

The great thing about this house is its flexibility. If you need lots of bedrooms, you got ’em. If you need activity rooms, throw out a few beds! The ground floor is wheelchair accessible all the way from the street to the garden, with wide doorways and level floors.

On the ground floor, the rooms are currently used as a sitting room, a music room, a play room, a disabled-friendly bathroom, with a small kitchen and toilet to the rear. The wooden double door between the music room and the playroom can be opened or even removed for more music, more play, or just a bigger space.

Stairs at the rear of the hallway lead to the first floor, which currently includes two bedrooms, one with two large windows, and at about 4m square, any of the main rooms could accommodate an en-suite. Also on the first floor is a kitchen, a dressing/fitness room and a bathroom with separate toilet.

The second floor currently consists of two bedrooms, one currently used for storage, an office, an art room, a small library, and a bathroom/toilet. The bedroom at the front used to be a nursery, with security bars at the window. The bars have been removed, but will be part of the sale. We understand the library used to be a tack room, but we’re not sure why they’d put it on the top floor!

An access hatch leads to the insulated loft space, which is currently used for storage, with flooring panels in place in some areas. The roof has been re-slated, battened and felted in recent years.

Back down the stairs and out of the back door, there’s a large, sunny garden, currently laid mostly to grass (so easy to maintain), with a flower border on one side and a slightly out-of-control vegetable plot on the other, with a brick and stone wall around the whole thing. The soil is really rich, fertile, and it drains easily. Visitors always comment how quiet and secluded it is in the garden: a truly secret place in the middle of town. According to Google Maps, the garden is one third of an acre (70m x 20m), but you'd need to confirm that yourselves.

There’s access for cars from the roadway to the back of the house through an alleyway and a double gate, with space to park four cars. To one side of that area, there’s an old two-storey brick and stone former coach house (6 x 3m), which is good for storage. To the other side is a more modern, brick, block and stone-built building (4.8 x 4.4m internal), where the Jacuzzi and Sauna live, complete with toilet and shower. The walls and ceiling are paneled with tongue and groove pine. With planning permission, we think these two buildings could be converted independently to provide accommodation (“granny flat”) and/or holiday/AirBNB accommodation. Our chats with the planning people have raised no objections, but you should confirm. Another idea would be to convert the Jacuzzi building to a garage. We’ve also investigated the possibility of building on the garden.

The streets around the house are full of history, with a 14th century church around the corner, a roman amphitheatre further up Priory Street, a 12th century castle in town and rumoured tunnels running under the streets from castle to church. Carmarthen itself is known as the oldest town in Wales, and its former port used to handle produce and materials from Bristol and around the world. The town’s shopping areas include Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Charlie’s, The Range as well as a popular market and many smaller shops. Our neighbours are all lovely – they’re all happy to chat or leave you alone, whichever you prefer.

This isn’t a Persimmon box - it’s probably already lasted longer than most of them ever will! It has a few quirks, like walls and floors that aren't flat, but that all adds to its beauty.

There's work to be done, but come and have a look. There aren't many houses like this around, especially with the large garden, parking and really convenient location. The house is listed by the local authority as grade 2: the bottom of the three grades. The price is on a par with Zoopla's valuation, but is based on a low sale price in 2004, when the chimney and roof were in a poor state of repair, so you'll be getting a bargain. Similar properties in Carmarthen have sold for up to £500,000 recently and none of them have a garden like 144's!

Come and have a look without obligation - we will take you round ourselves, so we'll be ready to answer any of your questions. But be prepared to fall in love with the house - it's a real character.

Picture list:

1) Montage of house front, garden and sitting room.
2) The front of the house, with St Peter’s church in the background – don’t worry, the church clock is barely audible in the house.
3) The sitting room (ground floor)
4) Kids room (ground floor) – it looks a bit dark, but kids love it!
5) Ground floor kitchen.
6) Main bedroom (first floor) – view 1
7) Main bedroom (first floor) – view 2
8) Dressing room/fitness room (first floor)
9) First floor bedroom 2, aka “the pink room”
10) Second floor bedroom, aka "the purple room"
11) First floor kitchen
12) Ground floor bathroom
13) The garden, looking towards the house - the polytunnel has since been taken down.
14) The garden, looking away from the house.
15) The Jacuzzi and Sauna room
16) A plan view with the house and garden coloured in green - boundaries subject to Land Registry confirmation.


Property reference: IATA18039