Bidding war pushes up price of Tolkien house

A HOUSE once lived in by writer JRR Tolkien has been sold for more than £745,000 (€1,082,000), despite having no kitchen or central heating.

The Georgian townhouse in central Oxford was the subject of a bidding war because of its association with the Lord Of The Rings author.

A spokeswoman for estate agents James C Penny said it was bought for “in excess” of €72,500 over the original asking price of €1,009,500.

Tolkien lived in the building with his wife Edith in 1918 while working at The Ashmolean, Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology, after serving in the First World War.

The Tolkien Society had shown a keen interest in the grade II listed property but could not find the cash, James Penny told the Oxford Mail.

“They were trying to come up with an offer and other Tolkien nuts were also trying for it,” he said. “It went to bids and the price went up.”

He said the buyer was wealthy, single, in his 20s or 30s, with plans to renovate the house for residential purposes, but would give no further details.