Looking for the ultimate bolt hole where you could hide away and no one would ever be able to invade your personal space again?
Well the perfect spot, set on a self-contained and enclosed site of around 3.74 acres, is on sale in Co Antrim with a price tag of about £575,000 (€761,000). And it includes a few unexpected extras.
It offers the perfect blend of seclusion and high-tech security for those wanting to get away from it all.
At the moment the property, a bunker in which to shelter in event of nuclear attack, is owned by the Office of Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister. It was built by the British government during the Cold War.
It is on the outskirts of Ballymena and blends into its surroundings so effectively that it rules out unexpected visitors popping in and is not only disguised by a grass roof, but the lower level of the building is completely underground.
Should things be really bad at work you can also rest happy in the knowledge that even with their best efforts there is not a chance that your boss is ever going to be able to breach your personal bolt hole.
That is because the property is one of the last remaining and arguably technically advanced buildings of its kind to be built in the UK.
Defence purposes
The building is officially one of almost 1,600 nuclear monitoring posts and 36 control posts that were constructed for military and civil defence purposes across the UK between 1955 and 1965. And this makes the Ballymena bunker very special indeed.
It has now been put up for sale with commercial property agents Lambert Smith Hampton. And Andrew Fraser, a surveyor with the firm, said it is definitely a “one-of-a-kind property”.
“This is an extremely rare listing and offers a unique opportunity for potential buyers,” added Mr Fraser.
According to Lambert Smith Hampton the bunker has three points of access via interlocking double blast doors.
Inside there are dormitories, male and female bathrooms, commercial kitchen facilities, a BBC audio visual broadcasting facility, conference facilities, air filtration systems, conference rooms, decontamination chambers, plant rooms and oil storage.
The property agents said the building has been maintained in a “fit and ready state” for any big emergency – the perfect bolt hole for a tired executive to devise a new plan to take over the world.
