Quirky three-bed cliff-top home with stunning views of the North Sea and only one neighbour in sight could be yours for £525,000 – but there’s a catch
This beautiful house for sale is situated on the cliffs of North Yorkshire and has a huge garden, spare bedrooms and even paddocks for horses - as well as one very unusual addition
WITH a huge garden, stunning sea views and a private swimming pool, this beautiful property on the coast of Whitby would be a fantastic place to watch the sun set over the cliffs.
And at £525,000 it could be yours. But alongside its three bedrooms and two adjoining holiday cottages - there is one rather unusual extra addition.
The house will give its new owners something to shout about with two giant FOGHORNS on the roof.
The quirky property, on the edge of a 200ft cliff in North Yorkshire, used to be Whitby Foghorn station until it was modernised in 2007.
The property was originally built in 1858, two years after Trinity House bought the land, and was originally one of two lighthouses on the clifftop.
But in 1900 the lighthouse tower was removed and the building was converted into a foghorn station.
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It has two foghorns on the roof, 20ft long and 8ft high, with one facing north and the other south.
In foggy conditions it would send out a blasting sound four times every 90 seconds, with a few seconds gap between the blasts.
The sound travelled at such a low velocity that people two miles away in Whitby would hear the first blast when the third was being sounded.
The foghorns were powered by two 25-horsepower oil engines which provided 210 revolutions per minute to compress the air which would then activate the horns.
When the foghorn first sounded there was public outcry and a campaign to stop them. But 86 years later when they sounded for the last time tributes were paid to them as they had become an important part of local life.
The foghorn station was decommissioned by Trinity House in 1988 as captains increasingly relied on satellite navigation rather than charts and stars.
Luckily for their sole neighbour, they won't be woken at all hours by the sound of foghorns as the horns no longer sound.
They sold the building to a private owner in 1992, who in turn sold it to the Evans'.
The main house, appropriately called Hornblower Lodge, has a kitchen/dining room, snug sitting room and three bedrooms, and there is also a one-bedroom annexe and a one-bedroom cottage, both currently used as holiday lets.
There is also a disused swimming pool in the garden, a small paddock and garage.
Mr Evans, 50, said: "One of the best bits about the Whitby foghorn station is the beauty of its location. We are lucky to be next to both coast and country, so really we have the best of both worlds.
"In the summer we are in a position where we can watch the sunrise over the sea in the morning, and set over the sea at night.
"It's great to be able to sit on the patio and the only thing you can hear is the gentle sound of waves hitting the shoreline.
Unless you fire up the foghorns, that is.