Property Of The Week: 79A Blencowe Street, West Leederville, WA

Modern and chic, this statement home sees a striking combination of raw industrial style, flexible floor plans and intelligent features within one of Perth’s enviable inner-city suburbs.

Generously sized for comfort, the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 2-bedroom two storey home offers streamlined living nearby to Perth’s picturesque Lake Monger.

Street appeal is immediate through the striking façade with low maintenance garden while entry to the home – via the extra-wide hallway to a massive light filled void – reveals soaring ceiling and an open plan layout.

Here, a custom kitchen is complete with Miele appliances, Smeg stovetop and oven and boundless cabinetry.

The meals area flows to the expansive downstairs living room and continues through glass doors to the outdoor alfresco area. The backyard offers space to entertain while enjoying the custom concrete pool.

A further, separate downstairs office/lounge adds to the home’s flexibility.

Upstairs an activity room provides a third indoor living area – ideal for a parents’ retreat.

Also here, a main, capacious bedroom offers a true retreat from the rest of the home and is fitted with a modern ensuite. The additional bathroom is well equipped with a hob-less shower, soaking tub and double vanity.

Planted in a convenient, sought-after locale, the residence is nearby to Subiaco, Lake Monger, Cowden Park and public transport.

The listing is with The Agency’s Paul Tonich (+61 478 180 765), $1,625,000; theagency.com.au

Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”

Property Of The Week: 79A Blencowe Street, West Leederville, WA

Intelligent living in Perth’s inner-city suburbs.

The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.