Property porn: ever wondered what it would be like to live inside the Barbican in London?

[Wigeon]

So I just went on an architectural tour of the Barbican estate in London, which got me wondering how much flats there go for, and what it would be like to live there.

I give you: mind blowing views. Mind blowing price: frankharris.reapitcloud.com/frhrps/pdf.php?p=BAR150310

[Wigeon]

Or maybe this one: www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39731200?search_identifier=863e68d0e641a9ff356b91e5715cf796#5mT0TizIFQCwlCcU.97

[VulcanWoman]

£6,000 service charge per year

[Wigeon]

Or this lovely little terraced house, which reminds me of some of the houses in Milton Keynes (from the outside at least): www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39706286?search_identifier=863e68d0e641a9ff356b91e5715cf796#CL8KPF2p607M2Hpk.97

[VegasIsBest]

This first one is crying out to be KonMarie'd!!

[bigTillyMint]

I once went inside one (friend of a friend, a million years ago) and wasn't desperately impressed - nowhere near as bright, it must have been on a much lower floor not that I can't remember as we were drinking

[Wigeon]

Actually, having second thoughts, the prices are just getting silly now, so how about this one bed flat in the Barbican, a steal at £775k and a whole 95 years left on the lease.

lc.zoocdn.com/be859380d3ed8d6e941d04f56559d357227ee721.pdf

[JassyAlconleigh]

I had friends who lived there. I always got lost going to see them; I found it a charmless concrete maze.

[Backingvocals]

House is lovely on the inside. But for that price I'd want a lovely kitchen not a corridor.

[Wigeon]

You could lie in bed and admired the hand-chiselled concrete in this one:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39982145?search_identifier=69102b2528a8bfbc6b0b92676ef2f437#wPG3cf8F3oiLC7AD.97 - the former Estate office for the Barbican.

Cos (as I learnt on the tour yesterday) the concrete isn't bumpy because it was poured in bumpy moulds, it's bumpy because after they stuck it on the buildings, they got a bunch of specially trained workmen with little drills to HAND CHISEL every single bit of concrete you see so that it went all bumpy. Apparently this was the cheaper option than the marble tiles they were considering for the whole brimming place.

[merrymouse]

where would you buy a pint of milk?

[merrymouse]

I like that last one - what is the room in picture 6 for? Group meditation? Seances?

[Wigeon]

Envious of people who have actually BEEN INSIDE the flats. Although disappointed to hear they are a bit disappointing.

Anyone who thinks that other one needed a bit of the KonMarie treatment, check this one out: lc.zoocdn.com/ccf79f96ac74f2dbc280661f35736e4c2a86a13d.pdf. Think it's quite clear why this person needs to move to a bigger place.

[Wigeon]

Merry mouse - you mean the white padded room thing? I wasn't sure. It's called 'pad' in the floor plan IIRC.

[merrymouse]

That's the one.

[BikeRunSki]

I grew upnin London and my parents had a friend who lived there. I never thought it was anything special; I agree with Jassy's "charmless concrete jungle".

[tribpot]

The first one is interesting, the current owners want to carry on living in it. How weird. Gawd it's minute for a family with kids, though.

The second one I note 'benefits' from the original 1960s bathroom. Which is presumably why there's no photo of it.

The mews house is adorable, I do love a good mews. But doesn't look so light or have such spectacular views of course. (At least you could both swing and own a cat inside it).

The last one with the chiselled concrete is a shag pad, what on earth is photo 6 of?

[Whatthefoxgoingon]

I have a flat there. Lived in it very briefly. Not my type really.

[Wigeon]

There is apparently an M&S and Waitrose nearby for your pints of milk. I wondered if Sainsburys would deliver your online shop or not. Otherwise quite a walk from the underground car park to your front door (unless you get one of those terraced houses, of which there are about 3 in the whole estate).

Forgot to add that the one which used to be the Estate Office sold for £337k in 2005 and is now on the market (following conversation to a residence, not the Estate office) for £4.5 million . Even with the costs of refurbishing it, I think Kevin McCloud would be proud of whoever developed it.

DH and I thought we might like to retire there only in our 30s, instead of the stereotypical rural cottage, and then we remembered we don't have a space million or four, and never ever will.

[CookieDoughKid]

I think they are all awful tbh with that amount of money costing to buy them. You're just buy for the location.

[Wigeon]

Tribpot - yes, I noticed that the owners want to continue living in it and are happy to pay market rent. Which presumably is also ££££s. Assume they need to realise a huge amount of money fast? Why would you then hang the millstone of huge rent payments round your neck?

Whatthefox - cool! So who lives in your flat now? Do you rent it out?

The Barbican guide person told us that when there was Thatcher's right to buy in the 1980s, even though the Barbican was never social housing, it was owned by the council and so lots of people bought their flats for an absolute steal. And then presumably sold them on for mega bucks.

I do kind of hate the Barbican too. Sort of love hate. It's so unrelenting. And I had always assumed the water in the lake as discoloured but the guide said it is actually coloured that sludgy green, or else it would be kinda grey (like everything else).

[Wigeon]

This is a very cool map which shows the current Barbican overlayed on an old map of what used to be there. Which was all completely destroyed in the Second World War (apart from St Giles Church and a 1920s hall).

mappinglondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/barbican_overview.jpg

[Whatthefoxgoingon]

Yes wigeon it's rented out to family at a favourable rate

[Wigeon]

Wow - so you get to visit? I'll give you £100 a month and am neat and tidy

[tribpot]

My mum remembers the Barbican as a bomb site - she trained at Barts towards the end of the 1960s.