The terraced house turned into a marble palace with offcuts

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But the abstract palace was created at the home of retired grinder Tarcisio Maestri, who was never going to be content with dull stone-cladding.

The 76-year-old said he started decorating his yard in 1998 as a hobby with "a few lumps of marble and granite".

Tarcisio Maestri poses by his marble-clad palace

Since then he hasa sunk most of his life-savings into the project-turned-obsession, which has seen his home, inside and out, covered in marble and granite slabs.

The Italian-born craftsman said: "I started out acquiring a few lumps of granite and marble but didn't know what to do with them.

"Then I started decorating the yard and the inside of the house and it stemmed from there. It's something to do while I'm retired.

"I've always had a fascination with granite and with architecture. I appreciate beauty in all its forms - like beautiful women."

Tarcisio Maestri has spent most of his life-savings on the project

Sadly his wife Lucia, who died three years ago never got to see the finished project, but has a headstone fashioned from granite.

Mr Maestri, whose parents Guiseppe and Camilla moved to England from Italy in 1946 at the end of the Second World War, shares his home with his son. His father was also a grinder.

Though the overall design is Mr Maestri's he did buy some of the more ornate designs ready-made from a stonemason.

The granite designs are fixed to the interior walls with metal brackets, while the granite features on the house's exterior are embedded in concrete.