Buy This House And Get A Valuable Banksy Mural For Free

"Spy Booth" is painted on the side of a home in Cheltenham, England.
Banksy is believed to have pained "Spy Booth" onto the house in Cheltenham in 2014.
Banksy is believed to have pained "Spy Booth" onto the house in Cheltenham in 2014.
Claire Hayhurst/PA Archive

Want to buy a genuine Banksy mural?

For about $300,000, you can have not only a work by the elusive street artist but the entire house it's attached to.

It's evident from the listing photographs of the house in Cheltenham, southwest England, that the property needs extensive refurbishment, both inside and out.

But it's still expected to fetch at least the asking price, thanks to the famous stencil -- which has already been vandalized several times -- on its side, reports ITV News.

Banksy painted the mural, known as "Spy Booth," in April 2014. It shows three shady trench coat-clad figures snooping on a telephone box. The mural is just 3 miles from the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

It's believed Banksy painted the piece in response to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's allegations that British spies at the HQ were involved in a mass surveillance program alongside their American counterparts.

Peter Ball & Co. real estate agents is selling the property, which also has two reception rooms, a kitchen, bathroom and courtyard garden.

The company says it is a "rare opportunity to acquire a Grade II listed, Victorian, three bedroom end terrace property with a genuine 'Banksy' on the gable wall."

The mural has sadly been vandalized multiple times.
The mural has sadly been vandalized multiple times.
Rod Minchin/PA Archive

The property "requires a comprehensive schedule of refurbishment offering accommodation comprising, entrance hall with doors to the living room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and stairs up to the first floor," the listing states.

Works by Banksy, who is believed to come from nearby Bristol but who has never been formally identified, have previously fetched as much as $1.8 million at auction.

The property's owner, David Possee, has not commented on the impending sale. In March 2015 he said the Banksy artwork had caused him nothing but trouble. "It all unraveled when this mural appeared on the side of the property,” he told local radio station Swindon 105.5. His local authorities, he told the station, would not allow him to protect the artwork with a plexiglass screen because the home is listed as a historical property.

The Huffington Post has reached out to Peter Ball & Co. for more information.

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