Tiny octagonal Dutch-style cottage for sale for £250,000 less than an hour from London

Built in 1621, the tiny octagonal cottage is one of just two remaining in Canvey Island
The one-bedroom cottage was built in 1621 in the style of a traditional Dutch home
Anthony Quirk & Co
Ruth Bloomfield6 March 2023

Four hundred years ago the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden journeyed to England to help with a series of land reclamation projects, using skills honed in his homeland.

He and his team were hired to shore up flood prone Canvey Island and many remained in Essex afterwards, building themselves tiny octagonal cottages in traditional Dutch styles to remind themselves of home.

Only two of of these unconventional properties remain standing in the town. One has been converted into a museum. The other has just gone on sale for £250,000.

The detached Grade II-listed thatched cottage — incongruously surrounded by larger suburban houses — is small but exceptionally pretty. It has a living room with timbered ceiling and wood floors, a contemporary galley kitchen, one bedroom tucked up in the eaves, and a bathroom, as well as a decked back garden. A sign on the front of the building declares that it was built in 1621.

A pretty living room with a timbered ceiling and wood-burning fire
Anthony Quirk & Co

It is on sale with estate agents Anthony Quirk & Co and sales manager Ashton Payne said the cottage is a beloved local landmark.

“Everybody knows the cottage, it is very quaint and very unusual,” she said. “It is just really cute and cosy in there. The owner has lived there for a few years, and she said that when she viewed it she just absolutely fell in love with it. She is now looking for somewhere a little bit bigger.”

Payne said that the cottage might interest a second home owner, somebody looking for an unusual Airbnb property, a downsizer, or a first-time buyer.

However, she suspects that whoever buys the property will be petite in stature. “The ceilings are quite low; it is a really small cottage,” she explained. “So no tall people, I guess …I am 5ft 4ins, and it is fine for me but our director is over 6ft and he struggled.”

Beyond its fairy-tale looks the cottage is less than two miles from Thorney Bay Beach and the town centre.

Trains from Benfleet Station, two miles north, take around 40 minutes to reach Fenchurch Street Station, making it an ideal option for City workers.

A bedroom is found upstairs in the eaves of the cottage
Anthony Quirk & Co

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