Comment: What’s the most you’d pay for a house in St Albans?

We love a posh house in St Albans, if only for the opportunity it provides for us to tut a bit, say “how much?!” and insist it’s not worth half that.

Wick House: The best house on the best street? - Credit: Archant

The most expensive residential property sold in the city last year was Wick House on Marshal’s Drive, which went for a hefty £7.1m.

It’s a pretty special place – about 8,000 sq ft of accommodation on grounds of around three acres, with five bedrooms, a cinema room, pool, sauna, gym and tennis court. But is it worth more than £7m? Someone obviously thinks so.

Second on the list is a very different property, the ultra-modern Pine Trees on Cunningham Hill Road (£3.5m). This one’s also got five bedrooms, a pool and – but of course – a cinema room, but it’s on a much smaller plot – a tiny-by-comparison 0.6 of an acre. I’d be happy with that, mind.

The rest of the top 10, which are publicly available to view in Land Registry data, are spread across town, on London Road, Marshalswick Lane, Manor Road, Fishpool Street, Lancaster Road, Mount Pleasant, Battlefield Road and Woodstock Road North.

They’re all known for being lovely places to live, offering everything from chocolate box St Michael’s village charm (Fishpool Street, Mount Pleasant) to the leafy, family friendly vibe found between Marshalswick and the town centre (Lancaster Road, Battlefield Road).

Marshal’s Drive definitely takes the ‘St Albans’ poshest street’ prize, though – as well as Wick House, five other properties from there are among the 20 most expensive homes sold in St Albans last year, changing hands for between £1,705,000 and £1,550,000 apiece.

So now we know where to go if we want a prestige address – all that’s missing is the millions.