No kitchen and no heat, but Tolkien house sells for millions

2.20pm

LONDON - A run-down English house once owned by "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien has been sold for 50,000 pounds ($141,000) over the asking price despite having no kitchen or central heating, Thursday newspapers reported.

The town-house in Oxford, where the fantasy author lived in 1918, sold for 745,000 pounds ($2.1 million) following a bidding war that attracted devoted fans and even the writer's own fan club, the Tolkien Society.

"They were trying to come up with an offer, and other Tolkien nuts were also trying for it," estate agent James Penny told the Daily Express.

The eventual winner of the bidding war, who is said to have no interest in the writer or his world of Hobbits, elves and Orcs, has some serious renovation to do.

"The new owner will have to build an extension and a kitchen, do a lot of replastering and possibly work on the roof," Penny told The Times.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings