When a local entrepreneur, Rob Smethurst, bought Macclesfield FC through Christie & Co in 2020 after seeing it on Rightmove Commercial, he went on to put the club in a position where last month it knocked Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup. The result was one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history.
A football club is, of course, an unusual property but in this case one that changed lives. Below, we detail five other properties listed on the platform that could be similarly transformative, from a youth hostel to a country house hotel boasting an outdoor theatre to a street food business.
Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant, Hexham – marketed by Christie & Co
Image provided courtesy of Christie & Co
Guide price: £1,550,000
Dating back to the mid 1700’s, Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant boasts a good-sized restaurant with seating for 30, a character filled bar with an open fireplace. It also has a recently added, full width extension to the front that is in keeping with the stonework, style and history of the building and provides a further 20 dining spaces or alternatively a function room for private parties.
To the rear is a pleasant and sunny conservatory providing another 50 dining covers, which leads out to the covered dining patio terrace with 50 more external seats and tables beneath a series of heated and illuminated parasols.
Battlesteads Hotel and Restaurant is situated on the edge of the village of Wark, in south-west Northumberland, approximately 10 miles north of Hexham and 20 miles west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is ideally situated to capture regional tourism, close as it is perfect to Northumberland National Park, Kielder Forest and Hadrian’s Wall, which is a UNESCO Word Heritage Site. The A69 provides good road access to Tyneside and also Carlisle, where it links to the M6 leading to The Lake District and Scotland, while the nearby A68 provides a short drive to the Scottish Borders.
Detached from main hotel building, but just a short walk across the car park, there are five luxury lodges, each of which has a spacious bedroom/sitting room, vaulted ceiling, patio window and a skylight window ideal for stargazing.
The hotel has received a multitude of awards and accolades for its environmentally friendly and self-sustaining business model. To the rear of the beer garden are the fruit and vegetable gardens where a large system of carefully tended nurseries, temperature and humidity-controlled containers and numerous polytunnels provide produce for the hotel kitchen as well as flowers for the baskets and planters.
Goodtimes Tacos (Events) Ltd, Killingworth – marketed by Bradley Hall
Image provided courtesy of Bradley Hall
Guide price: £55,000
Goodtimes Tacos is an established and highly regarded street food business, specialising in tacos and burritos. Having operated successfully for eight years the business has built a strong reputation across Newcastle and the wider region, with a loyal customer base and excellent online following.
The business comprises a fully equipped taco food truck and a dark kitchen trading under Goodtimes Burritos, which launched in early 2025 to meet growing food delivery demand. The sale includes all equipment, stock, the food truck van and the assignment of the existing lease for the kitchen premises.
Goodtimes Tacos has an active trading schedule across a variety of venues including pubs, breweries and popular local events such as the Wylam Brewery Food Battles, alongside consistent online delivery sales via Uber Eats and Just Eat.
The ghost kitchen premises is located on Arrow Close in Killingworth to the north of Newcastle, providing an excellent base for delivery operations and convenient access to key trading areas across the city and surrounding region.
Plas Bellin Hall, Oakenholt – marketed by Legat Owen
Image provided courtesy of Legat Owen
Guide Price: £2,000,000
Plas Bellin Hall is a former gentleman’s residence that has been extended and developed over recent years to comprise an extensive range of accommodation, including self-contained apartments, studios, mews properties, detached cottage and en suite bedsits.
The property offers a mix of residential, commercial and recreational space providing opportunity for a variety of uses. In addition to the residential accommodation there is a community centre, and a children’s centre with playground.
The original Plas Bellin Hall dates from the mid 19th century and is Grade II listed. The accommodation is arranged over two floors and briefly comprises reception, office, conference room, dining room, living room, bathrooms, laundry room, seven kitchenettes and 11 bedsits. Adjoining the main hall are one-bedroom, self-contained studio apartments that form a side of the rear external courtyard.
More recent additions include Morgan Mews, a terrace of four two-bedroom cottages, and Long Barns, a terrace of five two-bedroom cottages). Each of the properties comprise a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
There is also a separate detached two-bedroom cottage, two three-bedroom apartments, a four-bedroom duplex apartment, three one-bedroom studio apartments and two three-bedroom apartments.
In 2025 the property received planning permission for change of use to a dual wedding and events venue with self-contained accommodation and individual self-contained tourist accommodation.
Grinton Lodge, Richmond, North Yorkshire – marketed by Sidney Phillips
Image provided courtesy of Sidney Phillips
Offers in Region of £950,000
YHA Grinton Lodge is a Grade II listed property and located just a short walk from the village of Grinton in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire. Around nine miles east of the market town of Richmond, it is a sought-after youth hostel with a thriving tourist trade and access to beautiful country walks and an abundance of eateries offering locally sourced ingredients.
The building itself is an outstanding example of a Georgian hunting Lodge that was originally built by James Fenton of Doncaster. The property appears to be constructed in the main of stone with a pebble dashed render, pitched slate roof and offers extensive accommodation. It retains many original features including a staircase, ornate ceilings and fireplaces.
Common areas include a spacious lounge, games room, dining room, a large commercial kitchen, self-catering kitchens and a drying room. Accommodation is arranged on the ground, first floor and in the tower, comprising 20 bedrooms offering 73 beds and 14 shower rooms. Grinton Lodge also boasts extensive grounds, including courtyards, gardens, a camping field and woodland field with five sleeping pods.
Kilworth House Hotel & Theatre, Kilworth, Leicestershire – marketed by Christie & Co
Image provided courtesy of Christie & Co
Guide price: £7,500,000
Set in expansive grounds, Kilworth House Hotel is a Grade II listed hotel offering fine dining, luxury accommodation and an open-air theatre with a capacity of 550 seats. The hotel is a former family home with two unique features – the award-winning open-air theatre set in a wooded glade beside a lake and the hotel’s ornate Victorian orangery overlooking the parkland.
The hotel comprises 44 well-appointed period bedrooms in excellent condition as well as two restaurants, four private dining rooms and eight conference rooms, catering to everything from small, informal meetings to large corporate events.
As the region’s most exclusive retreat for marriage ceremonies, Kilworth House Hotel is a popular wedding venue, catering for up to 130 guests. The hotel also benefits from a Civil Wedding Licence and both ceremonies and receptions can be accommodated. Outdoor activities include fishing at the lake within the estate, two walking trails and a number of golf clubs in the surrounding area such as Kilworth Springs Golf Club and Lutterworth Golf Club.
The Kilworth House Theatre opened in 2007 in a beautiful wooded glade close to the lake in the grounds of Kilworth House Hotel. The auditorium has a maximum capacity of 550 comfortable, padded seats in tiered rows, all of which provide a superb view of the stage. Magnificent sail-like canopies provide protection for the whole audience and performers against adverse weather.
What’s more, there is the potential to add eight bedrooms by converting meeting spaces and add a spa and extensive leisure facilities to the site, subject to the necessary planning consents.
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