A BUILDING believed to be Maldon’s smallest house has been put up for sale after undergoing a major conservation project.

Known as ‘The Tower’, the six-foot-wide, three-storey Victorian-era house can be found on Maldon’s High Street.

The grade two-listed building was nominated for the Maldon Conservation and Design Awards this year.

It is now being sold as an investment opportunity for holiday let accommodation.

Owner Mark Salisbury, of Maldon, buys listed properties in need of conservation and sells them on.

He says the whole conservation project took six months after buying the property with wife Andrea.

Mark said: “We bought the building from Farleigh Hospice a few years ago and did all the conversion work, which included everything from brickwork to new floors, a staircase, plastering, and plumbing.

“It got listed because it was so unusual and was restored so well – it was up for a conservation award last year but was a runner-up.

“It was originally a storeroom for game, possibly, or a smokehouse for the butchers in front of it. I believe it was a store and that’s why it’s so small.

“We got planning for it a few years ago.

“I believe it’s the smallest house in the district. It is 6ft wide, three storeys tall and 10ft long. It kind of looks like a tower which is how it got its name.”

The property, which was originally an outbuilding, made it on to Maldon’s list of local heritage assets in October 2019.

Built in the mid-19th Century, the structure is made made of a combination of London stock bricks and soft red bricks.

It is thought to have been built as food store - most likely to air-dry bacon or to store cheese.

Described by the heritage list as a “good example of an unusual building type” and “constructed of quality materials”, its tall and narrow proportions also lend it a quirky charm.

It now boasts a modern fitted kitchen, shower room bedroom and a lounge.

The property is on the market for for £150,000.