Beacholme: Coastal home once loved by Barbara Hepworth up for sale at £2m

It was from the window of Beacholme, a 17th-century house perched on the edge of the sea, in the 1910s that she first observed the natural forms and textures that would later shape her celebrated work.

Over a century later, that same window still frames the same uninterrupted views - and now, Beacholme, which has passed down the generations through word of mouth, is on the open market for the first time in living memory.

The property, originally built in 1650, commands a front-row seat to the Jurassic coastline, with direct beach access and panoramic views that feel unchanged from Hepworth’s time.

Owner Graham Kemp, 76, a retired Yorkshire Television director, bought the house in a private sale in 2011. He moved there full-time from Esholt, near Bradford and lives there with his partner, Jody Nightingale, 48.

“I used to go to Robin Hood’s Bay as a child with family and when I retired I decided I wanted a place by the coast,” says Graham.

"Beacholme has always been my favourite house – the view is stunning from every window – so, after looking at properties for two years, I decided to put a note through the door.

"Initially the owner said no because they were renting it out. A year went by and I still hadn’t found anywhere so I knocked on the door. The owner said she still didn’t want to sell but she invited me in to look around and we had a cup of tea on the patio.

"Another two weeks went by and she contacted me to say she would accept my offer but it had to be done quickly. I rang the solicitor straight away and we completed in 13 days.”

Graham has thoughtfully restored the four-storey property over the last 14 years. Work included repointing the brickwork, replacing the roof and restoring the lead windows. Inside, the kitchen and the bathrooms were replaced and the house was decorated from top to bottom.

A welcoming hallway leads to an L-shaped living area, carefully designed to frame the stunning scenery through every window. French doors open onto a private balcony, where the horizon stretches unbroken and the sound of the waves is a constant, calming presence.

"The sitting room is probably my favourite spot for panoramic views,” says Graham. “There are two big bay windows with window seats. You sit there reading a book with the sea all around you.”

The kitchen and dining areas continue the sense of quiet elegance. A retro-style kitchen flows into a south-facing dining room, which opens onto a private terrace surrounded by resilient coastal planting and tended by an automated watering system.

Despite hoards of day trippers and holidaymakers passing by the house every day, particularly in the summer, according to Graham, it’s still a private space.

“When you sit back nobody can see you at all, not even from the beach,” he says.

Upstairs, two en-suite bedrooms showcase sea views and feature sensory privacy glass and electric blinds. The top floor is devoted entirely to a master suite, which features exposed beams and sunrise-facing windows - even the shower offers a view of the sea.

"Every bedroom has a sea view, every toilet has a sea view,” says Graham.

The property, which is one of the most photographed and painted homes on the east coast, has appeared on Channel 4’s Homes By The Sea, hosted an episode of The Hairy Bikers Go North when the presenters cooked langoustine on the terrace, and even became a recording location for Johnny Vegas’s radio series Shedtown.

Graham is now selling Beacholme because he says it is less practical as he gets older. “When I turned 76 I said that when I’m 80 I don’t want to be living in a four-storey house at the bottom of a hill,” he says.

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When a derelict farm on top of a cliff about 400 metres from Beacholme came up for sale last year, he snapped it up.

He is now waiting for planning permission to renovate the main house and turn six outbuildings into holiday cottages, which Jody will run. The main house will be set into the cliff. “My childhood dream was to live underground – I was always building dens – so this will be a dream come true,” says Graham.

"I’ll miss every part of Beacholme but you have to move on in life and as one door closes another one opens.”

Croft Residential is marketing Beacholme with a guide price of £2m. Visit croftresidential.co.uk or call 01904 238222