House up for auction for £17k - but it doesn't have a roof

With property prices soaring in recent years, the idea of buying your own home for £17,000 might seem like a dream come true.

But there's a catch - it doesn't have a roof.

The "ruined shell" of 400-year-old Ty Du near Llanberis, Gwynedd, lies in the wooded foothills of Wales' highest mountain, Yr Wyddfa, also know as Snowdon.

It dates from the 13th Century, and once belonged to the Goodman family of Ruthin. In 1650 Godfrey Goodman - the Bishop of Gloucester - was banished there by Oliver Cromwell for his religious beliefs.

Over the years, it has also been home to north Wales' strongest man, and in the 19th Century, a poet called Dewi Arfon, according to Auction House.

The house is thought to have begun as a platform house, being rebuilt in the 17th Century as a storied house.

Auction House said it was listed in the Inventory of the Royal Commission as an important domestic building in the parish.

The auctioneers said the ruined property has intact walls to eaves level, as well as two ruined cottages, a smithy and old shop.

The owners on Anglesey, they added, have preserved the A-frame roof and other timbers.

At the back of the house there is an old pack horse trail that once connected Llanberis to Caernarfon.