It might not be much to look at now, with every window boarded up, but Pell Wall Hall is a sleeping beauty waiting for a prince to kiss it back to life.

On the market for £750,000, it needs at least as much again spent on it to make it habitable. But could it be worth £1.5 million or more after all the work?

This Grade II* listed house in Market Drayton, Shropshire, is the last country house designed by the great Sir John Soane, the NeoClassical architect of Bank of England fame. It was originally built for a wealthy iron merchant and became a boys’ boarding school before returning to private ownership in the 1960s.

Disaster struck when the house was gutted by fire in 1986. The previous owner had the bizarre idea of eradicating rot with a “controlled fire”. The interior went up in flames, but some of the Soane interiors survived.

Soane devotees set up the Pell Wall Preservation Trust and with the help of £1 million from English Heritage, the hall was given a new roof, internal walls and floor. A Victorian and Edwardian wing was pulled down, returning the house to its original villa form. A beautiful cantilever staircase was reinstated, then the money ran out. Since then the house has been sold twice, but the demands of restoration have proved too great.

Dawn Carritt, of Jackson-Stops, who sold the house for £200,000 in 2003, said: “The trust wanted a purchaser who would faithfully complete the restoration to the highest standards.” The task was to recreate Soane’s exquisite interiors.

Kay Johnson and Chris Vassiliou bought Pell Wall, but their plans to add a steel and glass balcony on the side of the house were deemed “not historically authentic” by the Trust.

Johnson and Vassiliou decided to move on and the house was sold again by Jackson-Stops for more than £900,000 in 2006 to a Lancashire property developer. No work has been done since and the property is now in the hands of an asset management company.

Four potentially handsome reception rooms await Soane-style marble fireplaces. There are four first-floor bedrooms and six rooms in the attic. There’s also a large basement.

Clearly the hall is not for the timid buyer, but for someone with a passion for old buildings and total commitment to restoring them. English Heritage commissioned a feasibility study from the architect Ptolemy Dean, star of the BBC Restoration series, to look at maximising options. He suggests rebuilding Soane’s lost kitchen wing, which would allow for rental income from two flats. Shropshire, the planning authority, is willing to work with English Heritage to solve this tragic case. But nothing less than a permanent hotline to the chief planning officer will do.

Fast facts

What you get Grade II* listed shell, with new roof, in need of a complete fit-out and interior restoration on four acres

Where is it? Half a mile south of Market Drayton; Birmingham and Manchester are an hour away

Price £750,000

Contact Strutt & Parker, 01743 284200

What £750,000 buys you

London, £749,950
Aberavon Road, Bow

A two-bed Georgian terrace house in a conservation area. Spread over three floors, the house has a fitted kitchen and dining area, double reception room, bathroom, shower room, and part-decked garden.

It is close to a Tube station, which gives easy access to the City, Docklands and the East End.

Foxtons, 020-7033 1414, foxtons.co.uk

Bath, £750,000
Bathwick Hill

A four-bed Georgian-style townhouse. Built in the 1960s, it has a large sitting room, dining room and a medium-sized kitchen on the ground floor, a drawing room and guest suite on the first floor and three bedrooms on the top floor. There are views to Bathwick Hill and central Bath.

Pritchard & Partners, 01225 466225, pritchard-partners.co.uk

Edinburgh, £750,000
Merchiston Gardens

A large Victorian townhouse in need of upgrading, but in a sought-after area. It has two double bedrooms and a maid’s room on the first floor, a studio room and two further bedrooms on the second floor. Downstairs is a large sitting and dining room, kitchen, pantry and large garden.

Rettie & Co, 0131 220 4160, rettie.co.uk

Northumberland, £750,000
The Long House, Morpeth

This former barn has been recently renovated and turned into a luxury farmhouse near the village of Earsdon. It has four beds, a large family bathroom, an entrance hall and dining room, large kitchen, sitting room, family room and study. Situated in a rural location, it has views over the Coquet Valley.

Sanderson Young, 0191 223 3500, sandersonyoung.co.uk

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