About Us

Several years ago my husband and I discovered the un spoilt beauty of the rugged coastline of Sussex and Kent - so far largely undisturbed by the city developers.

Harry and I were immediately drawn to the area and back in early 2006 bought a dillapidated ruin, the Officers House in Rye Harbour. 2 years later this Georgian house has been restored by us to its former beauty, much of it unchanged from the day it was built.

A year later we started our next project, a more modest house in the same village but arguably more charming - SeaKale, an old shrimper’s cottage a few metres from the nature reserve.

Drawing from my many years as a fashion stylist in Hollywood, and my husbands very English sense of great style (his words!) we have created homes that we would want to live in ourselves, full of creature comforts and effortless practicality. We have never scrimped with materials or held back on design to create spaces we hope you will struggle to leave.

However this wasn’t enough. It was important we felt for our guests to really relax when they arrived and not have to worry almost immediately about stocking the fridge or the age old question ‘what shall we do tomorrow’. That’s why we offer our Welcome Packs, full of everyday essentials and a ‘shopping list’ of other extra’s to make your stay that more enjoyable.

Whether it’s a massage in your bedroom, a top to toe beauty treatment at (the excellent) local spa, homemade ready meals sitting in your freezer or simply your round of golf booked for a morning of your stay, we can pre-arrange this for you. At the moment the list is reasonably conservative, but don’t let that fool you there isn’t much happening, just look at the Useful Links page to see how much is going on. We hope to expand this area of our site in months to come depending on demand so please watch this space.

Both houses sit amongst some of the most beautiful countryside in the country. Enormous sand and shingle beaches blend into over the top Victorian designed towns literally perched on the shoreline. Some of these are beginning to be discovered and with it artisan food stores and better quality restaurants are starting to appear.

Towards Rye and Dungeness the enormous shingle and sand beaches really dominate the landscape, seemingly encroaching further in land and bringing with it a wild seascape that is unique to this part of the country. Much of it protected, this is an area dotted with scientifically important nature reserves and bird sanctuaries.

Communities of artists mix with a more recent influx of windsurfers and kitesurfers who are called to the challenge of the seas all the year round. Amongst the dunes lie some famous golf courses that have been the ruin of many a fine handicap.

We love the area all the year round, particularly the wildness of the late autumn and early spring where walking along the beach is about the most perfect antidote to the stresses and strains of modern city life. If you decide to come down we hope you enjoy the area as much as we do and are delighted to be able to share this secret escape with you. Enjoy your stay.

Sigrid Cragoe