Main image: Hastings, East Sussex £2,350,000
A bold contemporary property with a dramatic cantilevered section, affording flexible open plan "'through-life'' living accommodation of over 4000 sqft, occupying a coastal hill top position with commanding views over the English Channel, wooded valleys and a wildflower meadow. The property occupies an elevated coastal hilltop position in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with commanding views over wooded valleys and across Rye Bay towards Romney Marsh. Nearby is Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve, stretching from Hastings to Cliff End, Pett Level (3 miles) where it gives access to the beach, a unique 660 acre area of maritime sandstone cliff with a cliff top area of grassland and heath, woodland, glens covered with gorse and trees, nature trails and spectacular walks, one of which leads to the coast at Fairlight Glen. To the east is the Ancient Town and Cinque Port of Rye (9 miles), famed for its period architecture, medieval fortifications and cobbled ways. The town offers a range of local shops, restaurants, schools for all ages and train services on the Eastbourne to Ashford branch line with fast connections to London (37 minutes) and the Continent. Westward is Hastings (4 miles) with its seafront promenade, fishing fleet, Old Town and Priory Meadow shopping centre. From the town there is a direct rail service to London Charing Cross, which can also be accessed at Battle (11 miles). Hastings offers a wide range of schools including Helenswood Performing Arts College for girls, William Parker Sports College and two new and independently run Academies. In the private sector, there is Buckswood School, Claremont, Vine Hall and Battle Abbey. Warrenders was constructed between 2012 - 2014 using a highly insulated timber infilled steel superstructure with the upper level clad in a Spanish slate rain screen providing two distinct wings either side of a double height atrium and a dramatic first floor cantilevered section above a sheltered car parking space beneath with motion sensitive lighting. Designed by architects, Alma- nac, the house, which is angled and juts out in three directions, is defined by orientating key internal spaces towards one of the series of outstanding surrounding views: a wildflower meadow, a wooded valley, the immediate coast of Rye Bay and the headland of Dungeness. The property is a future proofed house with through-life flexibility hidden within the design with provisions such as an internal lift, level threshold walk-in showers and level flooring. A section of the ground floor plan can be re-arranged to provide a private area for a live-in carer from the bedroom, bathroom and snug in the future, if needed. (Phillips & Stubbs)