a presence

Driving into London, you often pass a row of seven or eight nearly identical houses. 

I have been mesmerised by them for the past ten years or so, passing 

by on intermittent trips to the capital. 

They are supposedly artists' studios. I once found the listing for one 

of the homes on a real estate website and as you can imagine they cost a pretty penny! 

But, I'd rather not know the price, or what goes on inside, or who lives there because I just love the buildings for how strange and beautiful they are. I think that I have always been fascinated by odd houses, (supposed) haunted houses, abandoned houses. 

There is a presence they hold that I can't ignore.