To Margate

I have had two good ideas over the past week which I'd like to share. The first is that we have been toying with the idea of the house being used as a holiday let for quite some time so that the house is shared and enjoyed by lots of people and it also brings people to Margate so they can enjoy it too. We have also been quite inspired by practicearchitecture.co.uk and assemblestudio.co.uk recently and that kind of community contribution/involvement/hands on approach made us think that the house needn't be a closed loop. In other words the money generated by sharing the house could be put back into Margate in terms of art, development or events. Or to simply help others with their social endeavours. There is a lot to think about before this turns into a formulated plan but I just thought it sounded rather exciting and I enjoy the idea of collaborating with people.

Peter Ackroyd, The History of England.

Every time we go to Margate we find something new. That is what makes it such a great place. This time we found Fort's Cafe at 8 Cliff Terrace. We stopped there with Tim's mum for tea and cake. The owners moved from Lewisham about 3 years ago and in fact were hosting an evening with Nick Morely that evening who is a linocut illustrator among other things. He has apparently just moved down from London as well. The evening was part of the Pushing Print festival which was on at the time - all about supporting and promoting printmaking. Here are some websites for you: http://fortscafe.co.uk http://www.nickmorley.co.uk http://pushingprint.co.uk

Beautiful ceiling rose - can you see the textured wallpaper?

One of the signs from when it was a lodging house.

Just so you know a bit about the history of the house. It was used as a lodging house as was a lot of the houses in Cliftonville - firstly for holiday guests and in the later years as a lodging house. Tim's grandparents used to come to Cliftonville every year for their holidays so it stems right back to when Margate was a proper seaside holiday destination. You can see remnants of this in a few of the photos.

An old sign found in the house.

The hallway with the original stair.

Shirley.  Our House.  Next door is called Radnor!

On Friday we stopped off at Aldi on Northdown Road in the rain to pick up some provisions for our first night in our new house. We bought beakers because that was all we could find and a saucepan plus foodie provisions. I dont think I have been into an Aldi before, spent a good half an hour looking for normal heinz tomato ketchup and then it dawned on me that that is how they work - they dont have NORMAL brands. Good. Right. Lesson one. The house is amazing - I have posted a few photos, actually quite a few photos because this is an architecture and lifestyle(?! Margate lifestyle yeh) blog after all. And everyone likes to nose around other people's houses so now you get a chance to nose around ours. We have come up with an interim plan of action which is as follows: - Strip wallpaper. - Strip Carpets and odd bits of furniture. - Sell ugly marble surrounds. - Strip gloss on stairs and dado rails. I think that is a good start.