The price tag of a converted Scottish church with 3,500 square feet of space has put the cost of a London starter home into sharp relief.
The early 19th century church in the sleepy Fife village of Milton of Balgonie has been listed with Savills for £395,000 – well below the capital's average flat price of £426,100.
Set back from the road behind iron gates, it was originally built in 1836 by the Balfour family, a long line of Fife landowners dating back to the Middle Ages.
The church was designed to seat 650 local parishioners among its pews but a dwindling congregation in later years meant it was eventually tuned over to private hands.
It was converted around 1979 but retains pleasing ecclesiastical features including stepped gables, an ornate bellcote and lofty mullioned windows.
Such holy hallmarks mean the home is B listed – a demarcation for religious buildings equivalent to Grade II*.
The current owners have carried out another refurbishment, creating a versatile layout and safeguarding historic features for future generations.
The double-height vaulted space at the heart of the building is given over to a huge living room with a wood burner, while doors lead to a home office, a dining area, a kitchen with Rangemaster cooker and a generous utility room, currently used as an art studio.
From the main room, a spiral staircase delivers you to the gallery-style upper floor, where four double bedrooms feature the same sensational arched windows.
An en-suite with freestanding tub has been created off the main bedroom, which itself has more than 350 square feet of space.
The converted church backs onto open fields and can be accessed from either end via its wraparound garden.
Emma Renouf at Savills says it has been "sympathetically and imaginatively" developed over the years and suggests it could be the answer for anyone seeking a "truly original new home" or a weekend retreat.
Though permission is required to convert a church to residential use, a surprising number of religious buildings have already been turned into homes.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has estimated that, in London alone, around one hundred religious buildings were being converted to housing every year by the mid-Noughties.
Such projects preserve historic buildings while creating distinctive dwellings for those unconcerned by graveyards or steep heating bills.
Some quirks may remain as a relic of that former life – any buyer here should note that Fife Council have a right of access down the east side of the house in order to access and maintain a small graveyard.
Other remarkable homes for sale for less than the average London flat include a Grade II-listed Herefordshire folly and an Art Deco train station in southwest France.
A four-bedroom church conversion in Camberwell, meanwhile, is asking for £2.95 million.
The historic county of Fife is home to the affluent university town of St Andrews, as well as the sweeping Lomond Hills.
Separated from Edinburgh by the the Firth of Forth estuary, it offers speedy access to the Scottish capital via the Forth Bridge. Residents of Milton of Balgonie can reach Edinburgh airport in 40 minutes.
Properties in Fife averaged £221,900 in the last year.
