Over the previous 20 years, a lot of Britain’s coastal enclaves have undergone unbelievable transformations, salvaged from obscurity to change into a few of the UK’s hottest property locations.
The arrival of movie star residents, chichi eating places and avant-garde artwork galleries have all performed their half – assume Tracy Emin and the Turner Up to date in Margate, Gordon Ramsay in Rock, Rick Stein in Padstow and Pearl Lowe in Winchelsea.
Till very just lately, nevertheless, Bexhill-on-Sea – perched on the south coast between Hastings and Eastbourne – was all too usually generally known as ‘God’s ready room’, boasting the very best variety of centenarians within the nation, and a waterfront lined with interval buildings that had seen higher days.
The tide, nevertheless, seems to be lastly turning for Bexhill: in keeping with Rightmove knowledge, over the previous yr or so, the sedate city has topped its checklist of probably the most sought-after seaside hoods, with costs hovering as flexi-working home hunters look to money in on a waterfront dwelling inside a two-hour prepare journey of central London.
The common home value right here, in keeping with the property web site, is now £344,000 – up 22% from its 2019 peak.
For Tottenham-based artist Hanna Benihoud, 35, and her husband, Jake, 36, a baby psychiatrist, Bexhill’s low-key appeal supplied the proper antidote to their hectic London lives and pandemic stress.
‘We had holidayed in Hastings earlier than, however knew we have been priced on the market for a second dwelling,’ says Hanna.
‘In 2021, Jake’s work was gruelling, and I had simply misplaced work as an artist, so we determined to look elsewhere for a mission that might ultimately generate earnings to assist with the unpredictable nature of my profession, and as a getaway for when work bought tough for Jake.’
A stroll one weekend alongside Bexhill’s seafront promenade proved serendipitous. ‘I noticed a on the market signal on the ornate balcony of a fourth-floor flat in a small Forties-style residence block, on a parade proper on the seafront,’ Hanna says.
A brief stroll from the De La Warr Pavilion – the putting Thirties constructing now serving as a hip artwork gallery and leisure venue – the two-bedroom flat had been owned by people who smoke, and was in want of quite a lot of TLC, however the superb sea views satisfied the couple it was the one.
Having purchased it for £245,000 in early 2021, which included a share of the freehold, they set about planning its redesign.
‘Because it was a second property, we have been on a decent finances, understanding we must furnish it from scratch,’ says Hanna, a professional architect who now focuses on creating vibrantly vibrant and graphic group installations and sculptures by her north London studio, and whose work decorates the streets, buildings, and underpasses of the capital.
‘We initially bought quotes from a contractor for the principle refurb, however it got here in at £90,000.
‘There was no means we may afford that, so have been decided to do the work ourselves. We managed to do it for about £25,000.’
Hanna’s skillset clearly got here in helpful, with the couple spending a yr travelling down on weekends and even after work to create a fantasy seaside dwelling.
‘Once I go on vacation, I would like it to really feel like I'm residing one other life, so I designed the interiors to be actually eye-catching and experimental,’ Hanna says. ‘I needed anybody who frolicked right here to really feel a way of actual escapism.’ And Bexhill ArtHouse, as Hanna has named the flat, intrigues from the second you step over the brink.
‘I needed the flat to be bursting with color, so I curated a palette impressed by Bexhill’s sea, sand and sunsets – leading to cool blues, heat yellows and dreamy pinks,’ she says.
The doorway hallway units the tone, with partitions, ceilings, skirting and architraves painted in Valspar’s vibrant yellow-gold Sundown Spice, contrasting with blue cork flooring from native agency Denis Parkinson Carpets and Furnishings.
Cabinetry was constructed by Hanna herself, utilizing machine-processed plywood – ‘I principally designed my very own flatpack furnishings’ – and a big, pink-dominated summary paintings hangs on one wall.
Upcycling and eco cred was additionally necessary within the scheme. Within the small kitchen, Hanna and Jake eliminated the highest row of cabinets, because it made the house really feel too cramped, however saved the prevailing decrease cupboards, merely repainting them in cornflower blue and including quartz stone worktops and pale pink paint to the partitions.
A big, arched opening seems onto the residing/eating house, a form echoed in a curved second-hand Perspex espresso desk.
A tall lamp with a pinky-gold fringed shade was picked up for about £15 in an area classic store.
‘In some contexts it may look completely terrible,’ Hanna laughs, ‘however I actually needed to evoke a way of place, and the tradition of Bexhill, so I furnished the flat by spending many blissful hours rummaging by the city’s superb secondhand retailers and home clearance shops for furnishings treasure. With Bexhill’s aged inhabitants, there are clearly fairly just a few!’
Eccentric vintage store Stuff & Nonsense within the Massive Egg proved a wealthy native searching floor, as did Fb Market.
Hanna and Jake did, nevertheless, redo the toilet from scratch, scrapping the all-beige color scheme for yellow and pink hues, and putting in a extra sensible format.
In addition they allowed themselves one large indulgence every. For Hanna, it was the elegant cream and red-striped headboard within the sky-blue primary bed room (which additionally options her personal design for seemingly floating bedside cabinets), and, for Jake, the cream modernist armchair which takes satisfaction of place in the lounge, from classic vendor Home of Herts (Instagram @house_of_herts).
To complete the place off, Hanna additionally commissioned and curated works from south coast artists and co-creatives, together with Brighton-based duo Lee Baker and Catherine Borowski, solely modestly displaying two of her personal artworks within the rest room. The just lately accomplished pad is now out there to lease, by Airbnb.
Sleeping 4, it prices from £90 an evening however the couple attempt to spend a minimum of one weekend a month right here collectively, together with their rescue canine, ex-racer greyhound Honey, who adores the seaside.
A go to to the De La Warr Pavilion, which hosted one among Bob Marley’s first ever UK gigs, is a should, Hanna says, together with cocktails and paella at Latin American eatery Sombremesa, or crab rolls from The Offended Whelk.
Hanna says their expertise of Bexhill has been life altering. ‘It’s such an exquisite group right here, and being by the ocean is so very therapeutic and enjoyable. It makes you're feeling small, however in a comforting means, and has actually put life into perspective.’
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