insideKENT Magazine Issue 101 - September 2020 | Page 49

HOME+GARDEN
BOSUN COTTAGE:
A Stylish Seaside Second Home
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ASHLEY O’LEARY, DEAL HOLIDAY LETS
FROM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES, TO PRIME SEASIDE STAYCATION RENTAL;
SARAH & MARK CRICHTON, OWNERS OF RENOWN AND MUCH-LOVED
NEPTUNE CANTERBURY, SHARE THEIR LOCKDOWN RENOVATION JOURNEY.
You both clearly have an eye
for creative, stylish interior
design, as demonstrated by the
wonderful oast home of
Neptune Canterbury, but why
did you decide to embark on
this project?
We had been keeping an eye out for
a property in/near Deal for around
6-7 years. Deal is really special to me
as it is my Dad’s hometown, so there
are many happy childhood memories
of fishing on the pier, swimming at
Tides, beachcombing and choosing
ice cream at Deal Beach Parlour. It’s
a beautiful town that has evolved so
much since the early 80’s when I first
remember it, and it has been lovely
to see it gather boutique hotels, art
galleries, modern brunch spots, and
restaurants. My Nan would be stunned
that it has become so fashionable!
Living in Tonbridge, and running a
business in Canterbury, Deal seemed
like the perfect place for us to have a
bolthole. Plus we already knew the
town so well, so there was no extensive
research required! It already felt like
a second home town for us … and
now it is!
How did you choose the
property?
With ease, if I’m honest. My parents
had been semi-regular holiday makers
to a couple of the properties on South
Road, Kingsdown over the years, so
we had always known that that was
THE road. We had viewed a couple
of cottages on North Road when
they’d come on the market, but none
of the ones we looked at were quite
right. We decided to be patient and
hold on for an opening on South Road, and after a long wait, number 8 very
unexpectedly popped up! With only a dozen or so properties on the road, we
knew that whichever one came up would most likely be the one – it is very rare
to acquire one of these really unique cottages.
I think Mark was bracing for the project to be worse than it actually was …
because my heart was set on South Road, I would have probably (very unwisely!)
just said “yes” to any amount of issues in the fabric of the house. I am definitely
the heart-over-head half of this partnership, and he is much more balanced and
can take the emotion out of big decisions. Luckily, the challenges we faced
extended to some damp on the front wall (not helped by all of the prevailing
weather that the cottage takes from the English Channel!) and then everything
else really came down to hard labour and aesthetic challenges.
What was more important, location or project opportunity?
Location, definitely. You just can’t change that, and it’s the single biggest feature
of this incredible cottage. Being able to sit and gaze at the sea is a really special
experience, and it elevates Bosun Cottage to a whole new level. You can transform
the inside (and even the outside) of any property and make it beautiful, but you
can’t gift any property an uninterrupted sea view.
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