Is this the strangest property on the market?

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing

It's a Grade II-listed property in need of some modernisation - a three-bed semi, it boasts open plan living, large outdoor space, en-suite bedrooms and, urr, exotic neighbours - hippos and penguins.

In a bid to raise awareness and funding, property website Rightmove has teamed up with Bristol Zoo to list for sale the gorilla house - as the expanding family are overcrowded.

Rightmove has also launched a viral video imagining what it would be like for an estate agent to take on the sale of a gorilla’s home.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “We’ve had a range of interesting properties listed on Rightmove over the years but this one must be king of jungle when it comes to the strangest. In many ways it is not too dissimilar to the million or so properties we have on our site at any one time and highlights some desirable features such large outdoor space, water features and grade II listed status. Being on Rightmove helps thousands of sellers every year and we’re hopeful that listing the gorilla’s house on our site will raise awareness for their home-moving plans.”

The Zoo is to begin work upgrading the gorillas’ accommodation and when complete will boast twice as many bedrooms as the old house, an indoor pool and special visitor walkthrough tunnel. The scheme is the result of a multi-million pound project and years of fundraising.

John Partridge, Senior Curator of Animals at Bristol Zoo, said: “The refurbished gorilla house will offer an exciting, bigger space for the gorillas and will give our keepers and veterinary staff much greater flexibility in their day-to-day management and care of the group. This will, in turn, further improve the level of care and welfare we give our gorillas and will allow us to house a greater number of them in future.”

He added: “We have a growing gorilla family at Bristol Zoo, most recently with the birth of baby Kukeña in September 2011, and we would like the family to grow even more in the future. To do this, we want the indoor accommodation to be the best it possibly can be, so we are expanding the indoor gorilla enclosure, taking over the whole Grade II listed building which, until recently, also housed the Zoo’s okapis.”