Where can you find a trio of cottages that maybe you could buy for less than the price of your lunch? A row of three former tin miners' cottages in Machen called Wesley Buildings are going to auction with a guide price of £0 and no reserve, but even in their dilapidated state are surely going to be snapped up for at least the price of an evening meal out at a fancy restaurant.
But there'll be no meals cooked and enjoyed within any of the three houses going under the virtual hammer as inside each of them is in a totally derelict state that for novice renovators will look shocking, and maybe to some experienced developers too.
Having been left empty for many years the row of homes have sunk to a state that renders them too dangerous for the auctioneers to step inside and take photos, although some brave soul has managed to snap inside a reception room, presumably through the window which lost its glass long ago.
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If you can battle through the areas of tangled overgrowth which has inevitably taken over and cloaked the houses in a rampant green cloak of foliage, then you can maybe see that the houses are spread over three storeys that with the right level of budget, imagination and expertise could be brought back from the brink and become habitable homes again.
It's not a surprise to discover that the cottages have no utilities or water but what the cottages do have is potential for the right cash buyer to unlock and a history linked to a local resident.
Gemma Vaughan, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, says: "Wesley Buildings offers the opportunity to acquire a building which we're told was originally three cottages. It has an interesting history. The vendor advised me that he bought the cottages back in 1979 when he arrived back from Saudi Arabia as a carpenter.
"He bought the property, his old family home, as he saw that it was up for sale. His great grandfather and mother were born there. His great grandfather worked in the tin mine in Machen. The cottages are now in an extremely dilapidated condition but could well present a blank canvas to a developer, subject to planning and the removal of a vast amount of undergrowth."
This property package is the definition of an extreme renovation project but listed with a £nil reserve at the property auction means, Gemma says, that a single bid of just £100 could secure the three dwellings as long as there are no other bidders to battle against. She says: "These cottages will be sold for whatever bidders want to pay with the highest bid, whatever that is, winning the lot.
"The three cottages are as basic as they come. However they are in an awesome location in the desirable and sought after location of Machen, a large village three miles east of Caerphilly and just up the road from Newport. They are situated in the Caerphilly Borough within the historic boundaries of old Monmouthshire. It neighbours Bedwas and Trethomas, and forms a council ward in conjunction with these communities." If you want to see more incredible Welsh renovation projects then join our property newsletter here.
Gemma is impressed with the elevated location of the properties too, providing views over the village, across the Rhymney river to the towering presence of Mynydd Machen (Machen Mountain).
But the new owner of Wesley buildings won't have time to stop and admire the surrounding vista, or go out for many fancy evening meals, because they will be up to their neck in undergrowth and starting the next chapter of the cottages' story - a challenging yet rewarding extreme renovation project to bring them back to life.
The cottages will be sold online at the next Paul Fosh Auctions sale which starts from 12 noon on Tuesday, July 25 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, July 27, with no guide price.
For more dream homes, renovation stories, interiors advice and property celebrity interviews, competitions and discounts too, get your copy of the Amazing Welsh Homes glossy magazine – last few remaining copies available for a special price of £2.99. Buy the magazine here.
