Rightmove's weirdest homes: Its 25 most viral properties revealed
Rightmove's weirdest homes: its 25 most viral properties span shark-topped terraced houses, private Welsh islands, Star Wars cinema rooms, and a stiletto-shaped bath. The UK portal compiled the list for its 25th anniversary in October 2025, highlighting listings that stopped scrollers, sparked shares, and turned ordinary property browsing into a national pastime.
Britons have long treated Rightmove like a digital curiosity cabinet. According to reporting by This is Money, the property site marked a quarter century online by naming the 25 listings that caused the biggest stir—from castles and caves to homes with indoor skate parks and graveyard front gardens. For more offbeat stories, see our Bizarre World coverage.
Key Takeaways
- Rightmove published its 25 most viral homes in October 2025 to mark the portal's 25th anniversary.
- Standouts include Oxford's Shark House, Thorne Island in Wales, and a Conwy home with a stiletto-shaped bathtub.
- Many listings went viral for bold decor or architecture rather than size or luxury alone.
- Asking prices on the list range from roughly £235,000 for Cornwall's Doll's House to £25 million for Essex's Osea Island.
- Rightmove's Colleen Babcock said the homes show how diverse and eccentric the UK housing market can be.
What homes made Rightmove's viral top 25?
At the top sits the Shark House in Headington, Oxford: a four-bed terrace with a 25-foot fibreglass shark crashing through its roof. Sculptor John Buckley created the artwork for owner Bill Heine in 1986; the property became a heritage site in 2022. Rightmove listed it for rent at £4,000 per month in April 2025.
Other headline entries include Thorne Island off Pembrokeshire—a former 1850s fort turned family home on 2.49 acres, listed at £3 million—and the Stiletto Bath House in Conwy, a Grade II-listed 16th-century home that went viral for its high-heeled shoe bathtub. It was on sale in January 2025 for £895,000.
The Space Home near Leeds adds a Millennium Falcon cinema room built over two years behind spaceship-style doors. The Purple House in Hillingdon, Greater London, went viral in 2013 when every room was decorated in bold violet and it was listed at £400,000.
Why did these Rightmove listings go viral?
Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock told outlets that billions of minutes are spent browsing the site each year, and these homes stopped people mid-scroll. Many entries earned attention for personality, not square footage—the seven-foot-wide Kensington terrace, Exeter's Tardis toilet door, and Porthleven's 3ft-wide Doll's House are prime examples.
Celebrity ties also fueled shares. Osea Island in Essex spans 380 acres with 90 bedrooms and was listed at £25 million in April 2025; past guests include Rihanna, Olly Murs, and Stormzy. The Carnival House in East Sussex, themed around circus life with arcade machines and a bowling alley, now rents on Airbnb for around £1,000 per night.
How much do Rightmove's weirdest homes cost?
Prices on the viral list stretch across the market. Cornwall's Flat Iron cottage—just 340 sq ft in a former alleyway—had a guide price of £235,000 in February 2025. At the high end, Ripley Castle Estate in North Yorkshire and Osea Island command multi-million-pound asking prices.
Some viral hits have already sold. The Star Wars-inspired Rawdon home was listed at £1.7 million before disappearing from Rightmove. The Tardis House near Exeter last sold in 2014 for £425,000. Others remain available, including Ross-on-Wye's cylindrical Gazebo Tower, listed at £330,000 with a spiral staircase and a bath hidden under a spring-loaded bed.
From hobbit-style Peak District earth shelters to a Nottingham cave apartment and a Norfolk village hall with an indoor skate park, Rightmove's weirdest homes prove the UK's property market is rarely boring—and browsing them has become a hobby all its own.