A Victorian seven-bedroom house in Birkdale, Merseyside, on the market for £700,000, contains an unexpected interior feature: a ball pit installed by the current owner after she was inspired by model and actress Cara Delevingne.
Julie Williams, an IT consultant who owns the property on Priory Gardens, said the colourful installation was intended as a mood-lifting retreat. "You can never be sad in a ball pit," Williams said. The pit contains about 11,300 plastic balls and is sited beside a flight of stairs on the first floor, where it functions as a play area for children and an "unexpected retreat for adults in need of a mood boost," she said. Williams added that the ball pit is built in and that a buyer could choose to keep it.
The four-storey property sits behind a private gated driveway in a secluded, leafy cul-de-sac a short walk from the centre of Birkdale village. Built in the gardens of the original Priory in 1896, the house offers more than 4,500 square feet of living space, agents said.
At basement level the house includes a utility room, boiler room, a WC and cellar storage. The ground floor features an entrance hallway, multiple reception rooms, a bespoke kitchen with breakfast area, a sun room and a terrace that overlooks the garden. The first floor houses the master bedroom and its vestibule alongside the ball pit, a large family bathroom and two double bedrooms, one with an en suite. The top floor has four further bedrooms and a shower room.
Estate agents marketing the property described it as "a peaceful retreat yet close to the buzz of a bustling village," noting the mix of period character and bold personal touches. The house has attracted attention online after images and details of the ball pit were published, prompting widespread comment on social media.
Williams said she took direct inspiration from the Los Angeles home once owned by Delevingne, whose residence was widely reported to include an array of eccentric features. Architectural Digest described Delevingne's former Los Angeles property as "St-Tropez meets Coney Island meets Cotswolds cottage meets Monte Carlo meets butch leather bar," noting its costume room, trampolines, mirrored-ceiling party bunker, a David Bowie–themed bathroom and a prominent ball pit. Delevingne herself has said of that feature, "You can't really cry in a ball pit."
The Priory Gardens house combines the period detailing expected of a late 19th-century Victorian home with personalised, contemporary elements such as the ball pit. The owner said the installation was intended to make the home "fun and unexpected," and that both children and adults had enjoyed using it while she lived there.