Swindon & Wiltshire News
Property (or art) investor bags themselves an early Banksy for £835,000
An unassuming Bristol city centre retail unit with flats above and an art world twist has sold at auction.
76 Stokes Croft sold for £835,000 when it went under the hammer last week.
Selling agents Hollis Morgan made no secret of the fact that the property – with a barber’s shop on the ground floor and two two-bedroom flats above – was also the canvas for Mild Mild West, painted by Banksy in 1999.
The HMO investment made £85,000 above its guide price of £750,000.
What happens to the mural – featuring a teddy bear throwing a molotov cocktail at three police officers with riot shields – now is a matter for the new owners.
For years Banksy murals on privately-owned buildings have been removed and sold at art auctions.
But with the Stokes Croft area appealing more and more to young professionals perhaps the owners will use the mural to lure renters will to pay at the top of the market – a “high-yielding investment opportunity” in estate agent parlance.
Image: Hollis Morgan
