The most remote house in England has been put up for sale on the open market for the first time in almost 200 years.
Skiddaw House, 1,500ft above sea level, is being marketed by Mitchells Land Agency.
The estate agent said it was a once in a generation opportunity for whoever bought the off-grid property on the back of Skiddaw.
It is only accessible by a 4×4 vehicle or on foot.
Skiddaw House was built in 1829 by the third Earl of Egremont George Wyndham as a keeper’s lodge and grouse shooting lodge.
It is currently used as a youth hostel but has over the years been used as a gamekeeper’s lodge, shooting cabin, shepherd’s dwelling, schools field centre and ramblers bothy.
The hostel has a few years left on its current lease, Mitchells said. Skiddaw House is completely off grid – powered by the sun, watered by a natural spring and ingeniously heated by sheep’s wool insulation and wood burning stoves.
Andrew Wright, head of Mitchell’s Land Agency, said: “As one of the oldest established land agents in Cumbria we are delighted to be in the enviable position of selling Skiddaw House.
“It is an inspiring, one-of-a-kind property. This is the only time the house has been sold on the open market since the property was built and we expect a lot of interest.”
Skiddaw House is perched on the 90-mile Cumbria Way and overlooks Bassenthwaite.
A Mitchells spokesman added: “If you crave isolation and simplicity, Skiddaw House has it in spades.
“As the only dwelling in the 3,000 acre Skiddaw Forest, Skiddaw House is the ultimate bolt hole.
“Possessing endless views, Skiddaw is a source of perpetual inspiration, a place to create art, find peace and live in the sky.”
Artists John Keats, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Hugh Walpole were influenced by this starkly magnificent countryside. After spending time exploring the area, Walpole was inspired to pen his gruesome thriller, The Fortress, which he set in Skiddaw House.
Over the years tenancy shepherds came and went, Mitchells said. According the Youth Hostel Association, the he building was originally divided into two separate dwellings; one side for the gamekeeper and his family and the other for a shepherd’s family.
The earl and his shooting parties also had a few rooms to stay in when they came to visit.
The joint use continued until 1957, when the Leconfield Estate was broken up and Skiddaw House, with its associated grazing lands sold to a local farmer.
He was the longest resident and made Skiddaw House his home for 12 years from 1957 to 1969, with a goat, five dogs and a cat. A long spell followed where the property remained empty.
In 1986, it was converted into what was to become Britain’s highest youth hostel.
It operated as a hostel until 2002, when it closed and it reopened in 2007 after work by volunteers and the Skiddaw House Association, a registered charity. It currently operated as an independent hostel, affiliated to the Youth Hostel Association.
Mitchells said viewing was by appointment only and its asking price is by application.
