Britain’s strangest potential holiday home has hit the market for just £29,000 – but guests may need to get used to trains pulling up outside.
The Grade II-listed former signal box stands directly on the platform at Torre railway station in Torquay, Devon.
And despite looking more like part of the railway than a place to spend a summer break, it could be transformed into a three-storey seaside retreat, as reported by Luxury Property News.
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The century-old building is being sold at an online auction with a guide price of £29,000 – less than most buyers would need for a deposit on an ordinary house.
However, the eventual owner will be getting a major renovation project rather than somewhere ready to sleep.
Pictures show an imposing red-brick tower with boarded-up windows standing just feet from the tracks at the still-operational station.
Inside, the dusty upper floor retains a row of chunky signalling levers and other reminders of the days when workers controlled trains from the building.
Proposed plans would put a snug living area on the ground floor, an en-suite bedroom on the first and an open-plan kitchen and dining room at the top.
The elevated living space could offer unusual views over the railway – and a front-row seat whenever a train rolls into the station.
Previous planning permission was granted to convert the signal box into a holiday home under application P/2016/0146.
Auctioneers say the permission was implemented by installing polycarbonate protection over the windows and that building regulations have been passed by the local authority.
The listing describes it as a “rare opportunity” for a landlord searching for a quirky holiday let or a family after a summer retreat.
Despite being located at a Victorian station, the signal box itself was constructed in 1921 and opened the following year for the Great Western Railway.
Historic England describes it as an unusual example of a Great Western Railway Type 7 signal box.
Its tall, three-storey design combines red brick with contrasting blue engineering brickwork, while much of its original exterior and several important internal fittings have survived.
It was granted Grade II-listed status in 2013 due to its architecture, intact condition, surviving levers and relationship with the neighbouring listed station and footbridge.
Torre station first opened in 1848 and remains in use on the Riviera Line, although it is now unmanned.
The signal box previously sold for £65,750 in 2021 and was marketed earlier this year again for £54,000.
It has now returned with its substantially lower £29,000 guide price through Paul Fosh Auctions.
The online auction is scheduled to close today (8 Oct).
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