Luck played a part in how interior designer Andrew Buchanan found his period English seaside apartment with Channel views.<\/p>\n
Around 18 years ago, he and his former partner were on a weekend break in Folkestone, a waterfront town in Kent, when they spotted an arched garden gate while on a walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe peered inside and saw this amazing garden, albeit overgrown, and coastal views,\u201d\u00a0Buchanan said.\u00a0They noticed a for-sale sign, so they knocked on the front door and asked the owner for a tour, and she obliged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t really house hunting at the time, but we knew we wanted it,\u201d Buchanan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MORE: <\/strong>1,300-Year-Old Italian Fortress, Expanded Over the Centuries, Is Up for Sale<\/a><\/p>\n The property is a ground-floor apartment, forming part of a pale stucco villa, named the Priory, built in 1725, with a rich history, Buchanan said. From the garden, there are panoramic coastal views, including the town\u2019s harbor and the White Cliffs of Dover.\u00a0It sits beside a church in the historic Bayle part of Folkestone (or \u201cFolkey\u201d as the locals affectionately call it)\u2014about 10 miles from Dover and 75 miles southeast of London.<\/p>\n In 2007, the flat\u2019s unkempt garden was the first sign the home needed work. Inside, there were fire-engine red walls and matching shagpile carpets and garden brambles blocking the sea views. But worse: There was dampness in the walls and dry rot fungus, woodworm, and deathwatch beetles were thriving in its timber joists.<\/p>\n Few people would take on such a project for a second home, but the couple weren\u2019t deterred. In addition to fine bones and panoramic sea views, it had a spectacular main reception room with full-height carved oak paneling, intricate ceiling moldings, and a huge casement window with direct garden access.\u00a0<\/p>\n The property was going to auction in a week, so the couple tried to buy it before it went under the hammer, offering \u00a330,000 over its asking price, but it was declined. Luckily, they bagged the home on auction day.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kind of saved the place from being ruined\u2026a developer was looking to buy it and had planned to strip out its interiors to create a blank canvas,\u201d Buchanan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s plans included reconfiguring its layout to make it more suited to modern living. This required planning and listed-building<\/a> consent, as the home is Grade II listed,<\/a> which protects its historic architecture. The permissions took 3.5 years to obtain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m originally from New Zealand, and I wanted to bring a bit of that lifestyle to the house with open-plan living and dining and a connection to the outdoors,\u201d Buchanan said.<\/p>\n The Priory dates from the 18th\u00a0century, but it was built with Kentish Rag (local limestone) from the remnants of a nearby pre-Reformation Benedictine monastery built in the 600s, which fell into the sea. In 1880, it was owned by Col. Charles Napier Sturt, and his wife, Mary. They employed architect Robert William Edis to turn it into a larger residence by knocking through to a neighboring property and adding the impressive, paneled dining room. By the 1920s the villa had been turned into flats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once they got planning permission in 2012, the couple cracked on with the building work, restoring its richly decorated rooms and crafting a modern layout.<\/p>\n They moved the kitchen from the front of the house to the rear, so it opened onto the garden. The light-filled space has soothing pale tones, a long stone central island and painted, custom-made tulipwood cabinetry.\u00a0<\/p>\n