ALL mod cons, the estate agents used to boast as they showed buyers around a house.

But it sounds hollow in an age where almost all properties come complete with proper heating, lights and a phone line.

So a home which is not mod and has almost no cons has a USP (unique selling point).

Richard Checksfield's powerless property will be viewed as a dream project by keen DIY-ers: a chance to MDF and staple it into the 21st century.

But we hope the cottage goes to someone who senses that there is real history here, preserved beneath the junk and dust.

Updated: 10:57 Thursday, March 13, 2003