Beach popularity with elite pushing up property prices

The recent marketing of a £1.9million residence ‘tuned to nature’ shows average property prices on the two-mile coastal strip have increased to 420 per cent of average values in the area.

Osborn Humphreys Estate Agents says Palm Beach House, in Old Fort Road, coming to the market is fresh evidence of the lifestyle increasingly sought by those moving to Shoreham Beach foreshore.

John Mackenzie, Shoreham branch manager, said: “This last year has seen a rapid increase in the demand for, and development of, property on this beachside road.

“Instead of bungalows, we’re now seeing the rise of a millionaire’s row of residences built as coastal retreats. The values are impacting hugely on average prices in Shoreham as a town – the new beachside property of the foreshore is worth four to five times that of average homes here. In many ways, it’s becoming the Sandbanks of Sussex.”

The house has been renovated to reflect and embody nature, with every room designed to follow the position of the sun throughout the day, including a specially-designed ‘envelope window’ offering a view of sundown over the sea.

Interior designer Kati McKercher is committed to the philosophies of natural design and even revised plans mid-build to save plant life.

She said: “The house had to embody its natural environment and be tuned to Shoreham Beach’s incredible light, we decided that from the start. However we were also particularly determined to maintain the existing palm trees and to preserve a magnificent fig tree – but realised later that this would mean redrawing the original plans half-way through the build.

“Despite building works going on and the roots of the fig being temporarily severed so the builders could lay the foundations, we managed to save it. Now, it’s even bearing fruit.”

Shoreham Beach foreshore was once home to the UK’s film industry, set to rival Hollywood until the outbreak of world war one.

The area was the site of huge glass studios, chosen due to the clear light of the location.

But some of the studio facilities burnt down in 1922 and many beachside buildings were later cleared, to build defences during world war two.