Bargainhunters of Lancashire, your time has come.

If it's cut-price grandeur you're looking for, forget glamorous loft apartments in Manchester city centre. For the same price - £700,000 - you can now be lord or lady of the manor of Townhead, a Georgian mansion in the north Lancashire countryside.

There is one small catch, says Charles Yeoman, of Strutt & Parker, the agent handling the sale. “The house needs at least £1 million spent on it.” But after renovation, “it would be worth £2 million - or even more - depending on how the kitchens and bathrooms are equipped. There has already been a huge number of inquiries from cash buyers and it will undoubtedly go to sealed bids.”

Townhead is a sleeping beauty last lived in as long ago as 1939. It is the perfect time capsule, undisturbed by mod cons such as bathrooms and central heating. The bargain guide price for the house and 11 acres of land reflects the immense task ahead. Floor beams have collapsed in one corner but the house is solidly built and the structure appears to be broadly sound, thanks to a programme of repairs completed in 2006 with an £11,080 grant from English Heritage.

The thrill of Townhead lies first in its commanding situation on a steep hillside above the village of Slaidburn, 40 miles north of Manchester. Immediately above the house is a grand sweep of moorland. The fast-flowing Croasdale Brook borders the grounds.

Viewed from across the village, Townhead has the appearance of a tea caddy, a neat three-storey cube, though the flanks are longer, making this a very substantial house with potential for 14 bedrooms on two upper floors. Intriguingly, there is a handsome doorway on each of the three main fronts. The present entrance porch has slender wooden colonettes and a Baroque hood opening into a hall with bold diamond-pattern panelling. The miracle of Townhead is the wonderfully preserved series of rooms, apparently dating from the 1730s but possibly a little later, all gloriously architectural, with detail taken from the Palladian pattern books of the period.

The folding shutters are all in working order. The sash windows no longer have the original chunky glazing bars but, instead, the equally elegant slender ones of the years around 1800. A special Lancashire feature is the pairing of sash windows in the main rooms to increase light.

Research has shown that the house was built in fulfilment of a codicil of the will of Henry Wiglesworth, who died in 1729, stipulating that his executors should build “a new house at Town Head” for his son, then a minor. He had already bought wood and other materials but required that elements of the old house should be used, presumably for reasons of economy.

Grandest of all is the splendid staircase. With its pedimented panels and blind attic windows it could be taken as a squire's tribute to Michelangelo's famous stair at the Laurentian Library in Florence.

The panelling around the stairwell, unlike the doorcases on the landing, is executed in plaster with a beautifully crisp key pattern. At one end of the dining room is a niche carved with the grapes with which Georgian country house owners loved to adorn their houses, a symbol that the wine flowed freely. The attic rooms are low-ceilinged but genuinely snug as a result and have fine views across the valley on three sides. The vintage plumbing in the kitchen wing is a study in itself, with lead piping and Belfast sinks as well as a built-in dresser, large meat hooks suspended from the ceilings and a big kitchen fireplace. The cellars have impressively broad arched vaults.

Another feature of interest is a stone-mullioned window surviving from an earlier house built on the site, recorded by Samuel Buck on his tour of northern houses in the 1720s.

In the late 18th century Townhead was acquired by the King-Wilkinson family, whose initials can be seen on many buildings in the village. Today the estate is being sold by a trust. According to Yeoman, interest has so far come from “entrepreneurs, architects and people who like investing in property, have made a lot of money and like a good project. The person who buys must be prepared to do a super renovation job.”

It's a daunting task, but at least the panelling in the fine rooms is largely in pristine condition, so you can install yourself in style from the start.

Fast facts

What you get: Grade II* listed early 18th- century time capsule in need of extensive repair, with fine panelled rooms, in 11 acres of grounds

Where is it: At Slaidburn. Manchester is 40miles away, Harrogate 42miles. Trains go to London from Preston, 26 miles away

Area: In all, 8,080 sq ft

Best schools: Giggleswick private co-ed; Stonyhurst, in Clitheroe; Ermysted's Grammar School, in Skipton, North Yorkshire; Casterton Girls' School, in Carnforth, Lancashire

Where to eat: The Burlington, in Skipton, is a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Devonshire Arms Country House

Price: Offers over £700,000, via Strutt & Parker, 01423 561274

...or buy a flat for the same price

It may not have 14 bedrooms, but at least you won't have to drop £1million on the refurb. This two- bedroom, 3,000 sq ft loft flat in central Manchester was designed by Ben Kelly, the architect of the Haçienda, and there is scarcely a corner that doesn't “benefit from exposed brickwork”, industrial piping or cast-iron girders. There is a double-height reception hall and a large sitting room with cast- iron columns. There are vaulted ceilings, six arched windows, two mezzanines and a balcony. The kitchen has “brick-effect tiling to splashbacks” and the master bedroom has an en suite dressing room. The apartment comes with two parking spaces.

Cost: £699,950 (plus an annual service charge of £1,298.89).

Contact: King Sturge

0161-238 7400, kingsturge.co.uk

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