Surrey Homes | SH50 | December 2018 | Health & Beauty supplement inside

Previous page: The drawing room. The wallpaper is
by Shand Kydd from Vintage Bird in Hastings Old
Town Left: Paul designed the curtains and Schiaparelli
pink festoon blinds behind them. The gilt pelmets are
from Hastings Antiques Below: The corridor from the
staircase to the living room on the second floor. The
wallpaper is from Vintage Bird
It was Valentine’s Day when fashion designer, Kim
Denman, then living in Los Angeles, received a call from
the owner of the house that she had fallen head over heels
in love with in St Leonards-on-Sea several years previously.
Her dream house, an early Gothic revival pile designed
by father and son Regency architects James and Decimus
Burton was back on the market and Kim and her husband
Paul, had been offered the first bite of the cherry.
‘It was an incredibly emotional and surreal
moment,’ says Kim. ‘I had become obsessed with
the house from the first moment I saw it.’
Some places have an inexplicable ‘pull’ and I can
vouch for the fact that Kim’s ideal home is such a
place. Having moved recently to St Leonards myself, I
spotted the house one evening, through the trees, while
walking through St Leonards Gardens. With its huge
Gothic-style arched windows illuminated by a crystal
chandelier, it stopped me in my tracks and left me curious
about its history – and wondering who lived there.
Kim’s own love affair with her ‘dream house’ began over
20 years ago, on a family trip to the seaside. ‘At the time, we
were living in Islington, North London, and our son, Joe,
who suffers from cystic fibrosis, was in need of fresh air.’
The family headed for Eastbourne, renowned for its
restorative sea breeze and while they were there Kim
spotted an advertisement for the property in a local
newspaper. Her curiosity was sparked. ‘For Sale - Victorian
folly in St Leonards-on-Sea.’ She still has that cutting.
‘I had no idea where St Leonards was,’ laughs
Kim. ‘But there was something about The Clock
House that called out to me. I was enchanted.’
On the way back to London, they drove east
along the coast to St Leonards with the intention
of seeing the property in the flesh.
81 surrey-homes.co.uk