Welcome to my home

Davina Fox-hill has lived in London and in the South of France, but the place closest to her heart is the coastal town of Whitby, where she grew up. So when a seafront flat came up for sale in nearby Sandsend in 2016, she snapped it up. ‘No sooner had I bought it than the one next door also came up for sale,’ she says. ‘I realised I could dismantle the lot, link the two and start again.’

One of the flats had been modernised but wasn’t to Davina’s taste, while the other was dark, damp and very dated. ‘I was able to live in one side while the other was renovated and then switch over,’ says Davina. ‘I have done up properties before, so am used to the chaos.’

Davina employed builders to strip every room back to a shell and remove walls in the front rooms, which overlook the sea, to make them more spacious. ‘All the rooms were very small and cramped and I wanted to make everything seem bigger and flow together,’ says Davina. Steel lintels were put in to strengthen the openings, leaking windows were replaced, new electrics and a central heating system were installed, and the unmodernised side was fitted with a new damp proof course. A wall was also taken out between two small bedrooms to create one large space.

‘It took about four months to renovate the flat and we love being here now it’s finished, whatever the weather. In summer, we throw open the doors and sit on the terrace where we spend hours watching the changing tides of the sea. While in winter, we batten down the hatches and stare at the dark skies from the comfort of the sofa. I still have to pinch myself sometimes. I’ve always loved the sea but I never thought for one minute that I would find somewhere as close to it as this place.’