Oxford Shark House, Central Headington - 10 Guests, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire. Sleeps up to 10

We comply with the current COVID-19 regulations and ask you to please do the same.

The property is deep cleaned between stays.

Stay in a local landmark, a large, stylish double fronted Victorian house with a unique sculpture in the roof...
Oxford city centre 1.5 miles with excellent bus services.
4 double bedrooms, 3 en suite.

Close to Universities, hospitals, M40 to London.

Washing machine, tumble dryer and iron all in separate utility room and free to use.

TV with SKY Channels.

Free Fast Wifi.

The kitchen is equipped with dishwasher, gas hob, electric fan oven, kettle and large toaster.

Garden room and private walled rear garden.

Off street parking for one car at the rear of the house. The parking bay is accessed under an arch, maximum height 2.12m, width 2.25m. Parking is in front of the white garage door - the garage is unavailable due to renovation work.

We can sleep up to 10 guests including two King size beds and two double beds. We also have two very good fold out Boconcept single beds which easily fit in the upstairs bedrooms. There is also a double sofa bed in the sitting room (available on request, minimum advance notice 3 days if you would like this made up or you can do this yourself).

There are also two baby cots available on request (minimum advance notice two days if you would like them made up, but you are welcome to do this yourselves) and one high chair can be arranged on request.

Please note the dining table in the kitchen seats up to 8 guests comfortably when fully extended.

Please note that there are steps down into the back garden.

Please leave the house as you find it.

I live in Headington and I am happy to help you during your stay.

Central Headington is a thriving community very close to Oxford city centre, (about 1.5 miles from the High Street). There are excellent bus routes from London and London airports and into Oxford. Headington is very well serviced by traditional pubs, cafes, bistros, parks and supermarkets (Waitrose). The Churchill, John Radcliffe and Nuffield Hospitals are located very nearby as is the Old Road Campus of the University of Oxford and the main campus for Oxford Brookes University.

5 - 10 minute walk from the Oxford Tube, X90 and Heathrow/Gatwick Express
Parking for 1 car at the rear of the property. On road parking for additional vehicles may be arranged for a small charge (please ask).

Please be aware that the parking bay at the rear of the house is accessed under an arch, the maximum height is 2.12m and width is 2.25m. If you are unsure, please ask it is usually possible to arrange on street parking permits, this will incur a small charge.

The house is located on a one way street, with access from London Road.

The London Road end of New High Street is host to a vibrant artisan produce and farmers market on Saturday mornings. Access to the house, including by car, is unaffected.

A word from the owner...

The Shark House consists of a 25ft long fibreglass and steel sculpture of a shark, formally titled “Untitled 1986”, crashing through the roof of an otherwise average house on a quiet residential street in rural Oxford. The sculpture was conceived of by my late father Bill Heine and sculptor John Buckley, created in secret, and erected without planning permission to the shock of many on 9th August 1986, starting what ended up being a six-year long battle to keep it.

While the initial reaction to the shark was heavily polarized, the sculpture quickly gained a strong national and international following, with people coming from all over the country to speak in its defence at various public forums. The battle with the council progressively escalated through the courts and finally all the way up to the national government, where the secretary for the environment Michael Heseltine finally made a personal visit and ruled that it should be allowed to stay.

In defence of the shark staying, Heseltine’s planning inspector, Peter Macdonald, made an official ruling that has gained prominent status among town planners for its defence of public art: “In this case it is not in dispute that the shark is not in harmony with its surroundings, but then it is not intended to be in harmony with them.... The council is understandably concerned about precedent here. The first concern is simple: proliferation with sharks (and heaven knows what else) crashing through roofs all over the city. This fear is exaggerated. In the five years since the shark was erected, no other examples have occurred… any system of control must make some small place for the dynamic, the unexpected, the downright quirky. I therefore recommend that the Headington Shark be allowed to remain.”

The clearest theme is opposition to military intervention and war. Opposition to bombing, and the destruction of people’s homes and lives, inspired in part when my father witnessed the planes flying overhead to bomb Tripoli in Libya on the night he moved into the house. The shark was erected on 9th August to also coincide with the anniversary of the dropping of the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, and speaks to themes of nuclear power and disarmament.

The other principle theme is around censorship and government control, which played out through courts and public forums during the fight for the shark to be "allowed" to remain. This was concentrated around the belief that the government shouldn’t get to decide what kind of art people are and aren’t allowed to see. That it shouldn’t be up to the tastes and whims of a select group of people to decide for others what they can and can’t do with their lives and their homes. The saga of fighting for the shark’s existence is detailed in my father’s book “The Hunting of the Shark”, available in the book store above.

While these explanations are all true, the most important one is your own. The sculpture has the meaning that you place on it, how it strikes you, and what it brings up. The sculpture can offer an example of what happens when we suddenly find something unexpected that breaks from the normal patterns of how we imagine things to be. It might give an insight into change and the fragile nature of things that otherwise feel safe and stable, allowing us to look again with fresh eyes. Or perhaps it's just a bit of fun.

This vacation home is located in Oxford. Thames Path and Oxfordshire Golf Club are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those in the mood for shopping can visit Covered Market and Thame Market. Oxford Ice Rink and Oxford Greyhound Stadium are also worth visiting. Discover the area's water adventures with jet skiing and motor boating nearby, or enjoy the great outdoors with cycling and horse riding.

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