FROM the outside it looks like a tiny bungalow, dwarfed by the three-storey house next-door.

But the exterior of this property for sale in Basingstoke is deceptive, as it opens up into a surprisingly spacious two-bedroom home with huge conservatory, living room, and even a loft.

According to the owner, it was appropriately named The Tardis, and has an interesting history which saw it built on the ground of the house next-door which was accidentally blown up.

Barbara Goldie-Scot is now selling the home in Sarum Hill with her two brothers, after their mother Sally Jones died earlier this year aged 84.

Sally, a former nurse, and Basingstoke Labour councillor, moved into The Tardis from the house next-door, named The Oven.

Barbara, 60, who lives in Scotland, grew up in The Oven, and explained the history of the two properties.

The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-five told the Gazette: “The story is shrouded in mystery. But the story we know is it was two old ladies who, in the 50s, one turned on the gas oven and the other lit it. They left too long between the two and there was an explosion which blew up the house.”

Apparently, half the house was demolished in the explosion, resulting in the bungalow – The Tardis – being built on the land nestled beside the remaining half of the house.

In the 1960s Sally and her family moved as part of the London overspill into The Oven, a large family home, where she brought up her three children as a single parent after her husband died.

“This much-loved home she named The Oven. Sally was a bit of hot stuff and her three children were the buns… in the oven,” explained Barbara.

In the 1980s, she moved into The Tardis after asking her neighbours to let her know if they ever planned to sell, downsizing after her children had all moved out.

Barbara said: “Sally loved living ‘on the hill’ and when her children left home, and she needed to downsize she conveniently moved into the bungalow next-door. She promptly gave it a name. The Tardis – time and relative dimension in space – is as it suggests. It looks a very small unassuming building, but in fact it goes on and on and has upstairs rooms.”

Barbara is now interested to find out more about the history of The Tardis and The Oven following the death of her mother - who was also on the board of governors at The Anvil - and she hopes someone in Basingstoke might know further details.

“Many people will have walked up and down Sarum Hill over the past 40 years and will have noticed the unusual names on a few of the houses. Surprisingly two can be attributed to the very same person,” she said, adding: “It would be interesting to see if anyone knows anything more about the homes.”

The Tardis is for sale for £340,000 by Barons Estate Agents, with 1,000 years on the lease.

However, Barbara said it is not know who owns the land, explaining: “It was a council house and my mum bought it from the council, but now they don’t know who the land belongs to. It was a peppercorn rent and if in a thousand years a peppercorn is due again, who do you give it to? We don’t know.”

Sally, a former regional officer for the Royal College of Nursing, who was also chair of planning at the borough council, moved into Marnel Lodge six months before her death, after suffering problems related to a hip replacement.

Do you know about the history of The Tardis and The Oven? Get in touch by emailing emily.roberts@newsquest.co.uk.