A Kent cottage that features on the cover of a Pink Floyd album proved the star turn at Clive Emson’s latest five-day sale, which raised a total of £20.5m, off an 83.3% success rate.
The auction house secured a 30% premium to the guide price for the two-bedroom cottage in Dungeness, Romney Marsh, selling to a private investor for £215,000.
The building – immortalised on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1981 album A Collective of Great Dance Songs – was one of 85 lots offered at Clive Emson’s Kent auction, the first of five sales held across the South of England from 23 to 27 March.
The Kent sale was the largest of the five, raising £11.3m and achieving a 90% success rate.
Auctioneer Kevin Gilbert said: “There was a very confident room and we sensed a real uplift in the market across Kent.”
Other notable lots included a former nuclear bunker in Rochester offered on behalf of Medway council and bought by a local investor for £18,000. The 105 sq ft underground bunker was built in the 1950s as part of a network across the UK by the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation.
Auctioneer John Stockey said: “This bunker is a fascinating part of Cold War history and is in a 0.1-acre plot. There was a great deal of interest not only from bidders but also those curious about its history.”
The remaining sales took place in Essex, Hampshire, Cornwall and Sussex. The Hampshire auction, held on 25 March in Southampton, was the second-largest of the five, raising £3.4m and selling 20 of 24 lots offered – an 84% success rate.
The Cornwall auction, held on 26 March at St Mellion International Resort, Saltash, raised £3.2m – an 84% success rate.
The Sussex auction, held at the Hilton in Brighton, on 27 March, raised £1.2m – a 72% success rate. Neither of the two residential lots offered in Essex on 24 March sold.
Managing director James Emson said: “Our auctioneers have reported some of the busiest rooms for some years as demand sharpens from investors and developers as well as owner-occupiers.”
Clive Emson’s next auction takes place at the Clive Emson Conference Centre, Maidstone, Kent, on 5 May.
