At the moment it has a dual role, with living accommodation and an office for the owners, the Bristol Ferry Boat Company.

However, it could become a magnificent houseboat, or maybe a studio.

Peter Beddoe is adamant that auction is the best route for this quirky lot, explaining: "After some initial research we came to the conclusion that the only way of really working out the value of the barge is to auction it."

The Tempora has had a varied occupation. For a long time it was used as a floating dry dock, with the smaller ferry boats being lifted into the "mother ship" for maintenance.

In time, the ferries got bigger and no longer fitted on its deck, so the Tempora has taken on more of an office and storage role as well as providing some residential accommodation.

At the same auction, and loosely in keeping with the nautical theme, Morgan Beddoe is also selling a two-bedroom holiday villa close to the North Cornish coast.

FANCY launching a new phase in your life? Then step on deck with auctioneer Morgan Beddoe, and take a punt on one of the most unusual properties it has ever sold.

The lot in question is the motor boat Tempora, a 110ft Dutch sand barge dating from the early 1900s, with 17 years of the 25-year mooring remaining.

David Beddoe said: "Our auctions seem to attract all sorts of different types of property from land with, or without, planning, to houses and flats in need of restoration and now to boats with moorings.

"We are also finding that our services are being required more and more often, with our sphere of influence ever expanding.

"Just the other day I was asked to value a property in Torquay and even more unusually, another in France."

The auction is on September 22 from 7pm at the Garden Rooms, Bristol Zoo.

If you have a property or land or even a houseboat you wish to sell, call Morgan Beddoe on 0117 946 7100, or seewww.morgan-beddoe.co.uk.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/lifestyle/Make-waves-houseboat/article-2548194-detail/article.html