What the Dickens? Author's Bleak House holiday home up for sale at £2m
Last updated at 7:11 PM on 24th June 2011
The Victorian author spent his summer holidays at the cliff-top residence and wrote the novel David Copperfield there.
The sea views of the English Channel from the study also inspired his 1852 book Bleak House.
Great expectations: The clifftop property in Broadstairs, Kent where Charles Dicken's wrote several of his famous novels. Bleak House was lived in by the author in the 1850 and is expected to fetch £2m
Inspiration: The house was renamed Bleak House in 1870 after the author's death - in honour of the novel of the same name which is said top have been inspired by the views from the property
After his death in 1870 the six-bed property was renamed from Fort House to Bleak House in his honour.
The four storey grade II mansion in Broadstairs, Kent, has now been put on the market for £2million.
Dickens and his family visited the property ever summer for 22 years. He called it 'our little watering place'.
Melaine Backe-Hansen, a house historian for estate agents Chesterton Humberts of Canterbury, said: 'As a favourite holiday home of Charles Dickens and his family, Bleak House is a fascinating property with a unique history.
'Dickens completed his novel David Copperfield here and it is where he was inspired to write Bleak House.
'The property was very important to Dickens as he often stayed there on his frequent visits to Broadstairs.
'According to John Forster, a friend and official biographer of Dickens, Bleak House was 'the residence he most desired'.
'His daughter, Mamie Dickens, also said that Bleak House was the one 'on which he had always set his affections'.
Where it all happened: Dickens wrote David Copperfield from this desk overlooking the busy shipping lanes of the English channel
Inspiration: The house was previously a museum paying tribute to the life and work of Charles Dickens
'The property was also visited by other prominent figures including novelist Wilkie Collins and prime minister William Gladstone.'
Bleak House was built in 1801 and was the home of the local fort captain during the Napoleonic wars.
Dickens's permanent residence was about 20 miles away at Gad's Hill Place at Higham, near Chatham, Kent.
From 1837 to 1859 Dickens leased Fort House from the private owner for his family's summer holidays.
After it was renamed Bleak House the property was turned into a museum in tribute to the author before going into private ownership again.
The study is on the extreme right of the building, looking out to sea.
Although it is privately owned there are several items from when it was a museum still in the room today.
These include a replica of Dickens' writing desk, a portrait of him and a sign stating: 'From across this desk Charles Dickens viewed his beloved English Channel, here the maritime activity of the 19th century was at its peak, the powerful British naval fleet based at Chatham and the many trading ships operating out of the pool of London made this part of the Channel busy and eventful.
'Dickens's whole panorama was of sailing activity.'
James Grillo, of estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: 'This is a property that could be seen as an antique, and there are a number of buyers who buy properties with this sort of provenance because they just relish the opportunity of being a custodian of such a historic house.
James Grillo, of estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: 'This is a property that could be seen as an antique, and there are a number of buyers who buy properties with this sort of provenance because they just relish the opportunity of being a custodian of such a historic house.
'But, having previously been used as a museum and with planning permission for a boutique hotel, there is another type of buyer that will recognise the commercial potential of the property and look to buy it for that reason.
'The Dickens link definitely raises the property's profile within the country house market and will attract a number of people who might not have previously considered this sort of property.
'This is a beautiful property in a stunning location, an opinion obviously shared by Dickens himself.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2007820/Charles-Dickenss-Bleak-House-holiday-home-sale-2m.html#ixzz1QFTVTnOD
Must be an enjoyable read Bleak House by Charles Dickens. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal, this book is going in by "to read" list.
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