This ‘lonely’ $624,000 house is on a giant median strip

How much does it cost to live on a giant traffic island? 

The answer is not much, at least if you’re willing to head to northern England. 

On the outskirts of York is a small cottage plonked on a triangular sliver of land that faces onto three intersecting roads. 

Eight lanes of traffic circle the house every day, along with a steady stream of cyclists and pedestrians.

The cottage was first built over 200 years ago as a stock keeper’s cottage for York Knavesmire, a swathe of marshland historically used as common grazing land. 

The Knavesmire can still be spotted from the back garden. 

It is, as the property brochure says, an “incredible outlook” – as long as you can see it through the procession of passing cars. 

The two-bedroom brick house is laid out in a cross formation, with a kitchen and living room on the ground floor and two bedrooms upstairs. 

Many of the rooms are in a rundown state with half-laid carpet and missing cabinetry. 

“The property is in need of a scheme of modernisation and refurbishment,” the listing explains. 

“This gives the successful purchaser the opportunity to create a most individual home.”

The cottage is subject to a user clause that restricts the use to a primary residence. 

This means future buyers will not be able to rent the house out on a short-term rental platform like Airbnb. 

The property was originally listed for sale last year with an asking price of £350,000 ($704,100). 

It was recently relisted for sale with a reduced price tag of £310,000 ($623,600). 

The cottage is for sale on a 250-year leasehold with an annual ground rent of £1 ($2.01).