But, there’s another Middle Earth. And you don’t have to fight an army of orcs to live there either. 

So where is it? Barbados.

Forget Lord of the Rings, this is the sort of house that other fantasies are made of. Built in 1975, it’s surrounded by tropical forest and overlooks Chalky Mountain (which sounds rather more pleasant than Mount Doom). With pickled wood floors and curved, sculpted walls, three acres and a pool, tropical Middle Earth wins hands down.

And I just so happen to have come across this castle in Italy, which looks perfect for any would-be princess.

The castle dates back to 1350, but its fort dates even further back, to 950 AD. It’s been restored twice since (most recently in 1998).

Situated in the heart of Lazio and 50km from Rome, you get countryside living (and a heck of a view) but the benefit of the city only an hour away.

There are seven bathrooms and nine bedrooms, comfortably sleeping 19, so you can round up your friends to come and stay.

And it’s possibly even better than any castle inhabited by Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel – after all, they didn’t have a swimming pool or their very own tavern in their castle.

The Hotel Des Artistes is located just off Central Park and is one of Manhattan’s most sought after co-operatives.  

However, this isn’t your typical co-op building: it was designed by George Mort Pollard in 1916 and the apartment for sale has 12 rooms, including a three-room master suite and three further bedrooms. 

But really, there’s only one room we’re talking about here. And that’s the library, home to 2500 books. And next to the library is a wine ‘cave’ – what more would one need to wile away an evening than a good book and a glass of red? 

There’s an office too, although why you’re not working in the library is beyond me. It looks like a room where great novels are written. Or, at the very least, you might get round to finishing the cryptic crossword in Sunday’s paper. 

2. Manor constructed by Louis Renault, founder of Renault cars

3. Villa in Ibiza with club room

4. Maple flooring

5. Four and a half bathrooms

6. Apparently the sixth most expensive property in South Africa

7. Near the Champs Elysees

8. Six fireplaces

9. Architectural masterpiece

10. Art collection

2. Gorgeous villa

3. Mountain views

4. Impressive setting

5. Views of the Statue of Liberty from every room

6. Aquarium Bar

7. Castle to refurbish

8. Fairytale Castle

9. Historic Monument

10. Garden with trampoline

2. Award-winning house designed by Philip Matthews

3. Raquel Welch’s former house

4. Masterpiece awarded with five Aurora design awards

5. Jacuzzi with views of the garden

6. Three separate houses for the price of one

7. Incredible views of the French Riviera

8. This house is definitely a must-see

9. Superb teak terrace

10. Great outdoor living room

Architect Frank Welch has managed to keep Turtle Creek looking impressive, without being too ostentatious. Every inch has been designed with that little bit extra. There might be something of the batchelor pad about it, but I can forgive that.

So apart from a dramatic pile of bricks, what else do you get for your £11,167,200? Well, there’s a craft room, a media room, and a wine cellar. There’s a children’s wing too, which does make me wonder just how many children you’d have to have in your family to make that worthwhile…

It’s different. It’s glamourous. It’s got an infinity pool. It might be showy, but I like it.

Only a year ago many were sniffily dismissing the weak the pound compared to the gold-standard euro, lauding the prosperity of Europe’s recession proof economies and ribbing us Brits for not joining in. But little did they know that a clutch of countries were hiding very weak economies and mountains of debt.

Will the euro vs pound fluctuations help British home buyers overseas?

Last week all was revealed. The catastrophe that is the Greek economy, plus worrying news from Spain, Portugal and Ireland, have sent the euro tumbling, leading many to hope that the glory days of the overseas property market – which at one point was subsidised by up to 30% through favourable exchange rates – might return.

Many remember how from 2001 until late-2007 buying a home in the euro zone was an exchange dream. £100,000 bought a €140,000 villa or apartment, and it was this advantage that helped British buyers sustain a prolonged coastal holiday home buying boom in hotspots such as Portugal and Spain.

But over the past two and a half years the euro advantage has receded and in February 2008 the Euro almost achieved parity with Sterling. But gloom in Europe has pushed the pound to €1.15 and many are hoping this foreign exchange slide will give a financial boost to British buyers overseas. But what do the foreign exchange pundits think?

“Although there are going to be some short and medium term benefits, the long-term debt problems within the British economy mean it is going to be a long time before the exchange improves enough to make a huge difference to buyers,” says Duncan Higgins of exchange firm Caxton FX.

“Talk of a hung parliament and high rates of government debt in Britain means investors have been avoiding Britain recently so at best I think the rate might climb to €1.20 before falling back again.

Higgins says that market turbulence at the moment means he can predict only one thing at the moment – that despite attempts to bail out Europe’s ailing economies the euro will remains weak, and therefore parity with the pound is unlikely to return soon.

1. Unusual, modern 15-bedroom castle

2. Two-in-one swimming pool

3. Incredible indoor pool

4. Huge main room

5. A masterpiece – and spacious too

6. A different kind of ‘green house’

7. Quite a palace

8.Luxurious marbled bathroom

9. Impressive Medieval chateau

10. Villa with internal lift

1. Parisian winter garden

2. Incredible mountain views

3. Outstanding architecture

4. You might recognise this house from the Da Vinci Code movie

5. Impressive villa in Mallorca

6. Possibly the thinnest pool ever

7. Peace and Quiet

8. Landscaped gardens leading down to the sea

9. Cubic house

10. Amazing terrace