Would you shell out £800,000 for a flat with a waterfall at the rear of the bathtub? See ‘Bristol’s most distinctive home’

What do Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Taj Mahal, God and a chicken sacred in Chinese mythology all have in common?

The remedy: in different strategies, they have influenced the development of the most strange property in Bristol, if not Britain — at minimum in accordance to its owner, Matt Bagg.

In his endeavours to market his two-bed room penthouse maisonette in a humble street of nondescript 1930s semis, he has penned a lyrical 5,000-phrase essay on the home listings web page Rightmove, extolling its magnificence and rarity. To his shock the essay went viral, producing substantial curiosity on social media.

Most adverts are concise, telling future owners that a flat or dwelling is ‘well-presented’, ‘spacious’, ‘light and airy’, ‘close to amenities’ and so on.

But Matt didn’t think a conventional solution would do justice to his domestic masterpiece.

Iram Ramzan visits Matt Bagg’s extraordinary Bristol flat, sampling the principal rest room with a waterfall outcome shower

 An avantgarde bed room features parquet flooring, a round mattress with inbuilt bedside tables and woven lamps

The property’s kitchen area includes engineered parquet picket flooring and walls, as well as diamond-formed headlights and environmentally friendly kitchen area models

He informs home-hunters that this 1,690 sq ft residence — delivers in the region of £800,000 — is for ‘special people who take pleasure in creative celebration, God, society, oneness and uniqueness. In all probability Bristol’s most unique home’. His assets is, he writes, a testament to ‘human genius, creativeness and a celebration to the extraordinary all-natural components of divine Mother Earth’.

Just in scenario you did not get the position, he provides that it is ‘a incredibly imaginative piece of innovative artwork that has passionate architecture alongside confident layout and genius assumed, together with practical and eco technologies. Only time below will allow you to respect all the depth contained inside this gorgeous and wholly distinctive home’.

And if you are nonetheless not persuaded, he concludes that ‘this is an extraordinary after-in-a-life span possibility to acquire a house that could by no means be monetarily or logistically constructed again’.

His description of his ‘timeless dwelling that never ever feels boring’ is accompanied by no significantly less than 124 photos and it is good to say he has experienced a blended reaction. Some persons on the net explain his delight and joy as ‘bonkers’. Just one dwelling-hunter termed it ‘migraine-inducing’. A further claimed it was an ‘overpriced man cave’.

‘People should not decide,’ Matt, 50, tells me when I get there for my viewing. ‘And who can describe a residence superior than the man or woman who created it? When you wander into a constructing you experience the energy, you have that intestine feeling no matter whether you like it or not.’

The sitting down rooms arrives with a diagonal ceiling, picket fireplace and rooflights, with a glass balcony from the mezzanine ground earlier mentioned

Bagg informs residence-hunters that this 1,690 sq ft house — features in the region of £800,000 — is for ‘special people who enjoy resourceful celebration, God, society, oneness and uniqueness’ (Pictured: Iram Ramzan in the property’s rest room)

The residing space ceiling also features ornate wood textures, hanging chandeliers and extensive rooflights, with a signature inexperienced accent color

He has large hopes for a sale at or in close proximity to his asking selling price. Qualities in this sought-soon after suburb of Coombe Dingle had an overall normal cost of £533,948 in 2021, up 21 for every cent on the former year.

Matt, who wears a huge cross all around his neck mainly because he is ‘very spiritual’, did an engineering apprenticeship and then spent considerably of his lifestyle travelling, which describes the a variety of influences at work in the maisonette.

His really — in his viewpoint — des res attributes onyx marble, cherrywood, ipe (a timber from South American rainforests), white jade crystals and black granite, as effectively as benefiting from Chinese, Cuban and Indian influences, with some art nouveau and art deco vibes thrown in.

In the course of his travels, Matt worked on a kibbutz in Israel, where by, he says, he learned the great importance of sustainability. He then explored India for 18 months, which he found ‘spiritually enlightening’, and lived in China on and off for 15 many years (in which time, he states, he formulated an e-scooter and an e-bike) and was ‘blown away by the creativity’ of the Chinese individuals.

Whilst he is not eager to share why he is providing up, he is obviously heartbroken at obtaining to do so — and desperate to find a kindred spirit who will appreciate and appreciate the get the job done that went into his dwelling.

The breakfast bar in the kitchen pays homage to oriental influences whilst being a cosy and personal place to relax 

The corridor of the mezzanine ground looks down to the sitting area underneath, and leads to a clock-themed window at its end

Certainly, this is a house that can come to feel mind-boggling at very first, but the place is wonderful. From the dwelling area, you have a wonderful see of rolling countryside and it is just a stone’s toss from the 650-acre Blaise Castle estate.

The house is presently divided into two. A consumer can obtain the penthouse (the prime two flooring at £800,000) or Matt will consider offering the entire assets, which consists of a next flat on the floor floor, where by he is presently living. He has built the position in these a way that all the rooms can simply be converted or divided to match occupants and their needs.

‘Houses in this country really don’t make perception,’ says Matt. ‘Imagine if you are a pair who really don’t have youngsters but you want a massive place. What are you heading to do with 4 bedrooms? You are having a ton of square footage in this article. And if you have a large family, the grandparents could have their own house on 1 ground.’

Up in the penthouse there is a ‘feature’ all over the place you seem. Open the kitchen cabinets, for occasion, and there is a backdrop of Cuban avenue art. The place of work spot has a performing clock set within a round window.

Or how about the 500kg inexperienced onyx slab displayed on the wall in the eating home? Inexperienced is ‘associated with intelligence, elevated brainpower and improved memory,’ states Matt.

All the doors, meanwhile, have 3D carvings of cranes — the hen is commemorated in Chinese folklore as the prince of all feathered creatures.

Amongst the drawing home and lounge is a makeshift bridge, whilst ornate parquet picket patterns adorn the loft house previously mentioned

Matt describes the master toilet as ‘the only a single of its form in the world’, with a two metre-significant, hand-carved natural rock waterfall more than a grand oval bathtub that is undoubtedly major adequate for two.

There are two smaller loos, one of which is a tribute to the Taj Mahal: the white stone mimicking the ivory marble made use of by the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who designed India’s most celebrated creating in honour of his favorite spouse, Mumtaz. In accordance to legend, the emperor’s plan was to build a black mausoleum for himself opposite his late spouse’s tomb. He hardly ever got spherical to it — so Matt has carried out the career for him, a lavatory of black granite and blue leopard stone to complement his possess mini-Taj throughout the corridor.

The ceilings, flooring and partitions in the lounge and open up-system kitchen area/eating spot are built from ipe, ‘the Rolls-Royce of all wooden,’ states Matt, thanks to its longevity.

And earlier mentioned the lounge is the property’s ‘showstopper’ balcony — in the design and style of a bridge, celebrating the achievements of the fantastic Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who developed Bristol’s most well-known construction, the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Matt’s labour of appreciate took six decades in all and, he statements, about £1 million, just after he experienced snapped up the ‘derelict mess’ of a residence for just about £300,000 in 2012. And now he has to give it all up — for a good deal a lot less dollars than he poured into it.

‘I’d be delighted not to promote. But I have to,’ he says. ‘I need the funds.’

In the meantime, he has also mentioned it on the reservations internet site Booking.com. Visitors can hope to fork out almost £600 a evening.

As I acquire my go away, Matt tells me that Shah Jahan’s vision of like is ‘missing in most of today’s chilly and meaningless architecture’ — as opposed to his penthouse.

‘It’s designed for a special person,’ he insists. ‘For someone who will value what it is, culturally.’

And perhaps there is someone out there who is as quirky as Matt, and will feel so, too.