Southhampton Versailles

Being a proper British eccentric, Mr Reeman has spent 25 years transforming his once ordinary flat in Southampton, Hampshire into the lavish Palace of Versailles, once home to the French Royal Family until 1789. His two bedroom flat, nine stories up an unremarkable tower block, is now covered in opulent wooden panels, ornate glass fittings and elegant scroll work from ceiling to floor. Adrian has never even been to Versailles, which is on the outskirts of Paris, despite it being only 300 kilometres away from his home, about the same distance as between New York and Boston. But with a home like his, he's no need to. But tragically, Adrian and Annette may have to rip out all his hard work if they ever move. 'The council have a policy that tenants must restore flats to their original condition before moving out,' he says. 'There's no way I could put this place back to how it was, it would be impossible, so it looks like I'm trapped here until they pull the whole block down.'