John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-metre-high castle tower. They have spent five years taming it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.

'I love the space, and being private,' Elizabeth says. 'You feel separated from the world. If I'm in the kitchen, which is 25 metres above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don't have to answer it because visitors can't see I'm in!' `

There are 142 steps to the top, so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it's very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Apart from that, it's a brilliant place to live.'

`When we first saw the place, I asked my father's advice about buying it, because we couldn't decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.'

'Living here can be difficult — yesterday I climbed a four-metre ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to sea on a clear day, and that's a wonderful experience. I'm really glad we moved.'