Where To Live
,ffi,wre ffi*ffiffiw Dartmouth Harbour-sideliving at itsfnest, Dartmoutlt on tlte SoutltHams coastis a centuriesoldport of callfor sailors,mercltantsand sealovers;todayits clticstreetsand imprasive property prica /tave earned it the nickname Cltelsea-zn-seawordsLesteyGittitan
ON DEVON'S
salubriousSouth Hams coast,Dartmouth is the ultimate harbour town; the bee'skneesifyou havea love of saiJingand a healthybank account.It is expensive,but you get
ULl
GR rDDr$rG*$ / JUry 20'
of the best in the country (note the smatteringof English Rivierapalm trees);MitchTonks (Devon'sanswerto Rick Stein) servesup seared scallopsat his Seahorsefish restaurantor posh takeawaysat his new Rockfish Seafoodand Chips; chandleriesrub shoulderswith nice little art galleries,delis and designerfashion.It's all
what you pay for the picture-postcardsetting the greenwooded hills, rows ofTudor houseson cobbledquays,boats,castellatedforts, a market squareand - ifyou include neighbouring
very Chelsea-on-sea.
Kingswear - two for the price of one.The two towns g ze ateach other acrossthe wide, blue estuaryfagged with white sails. Dartmouth's sheltereddeep-water anchorage
For a changeofscene,headupstreamto Totnes,a medievalmarket town on the southern edgeof Dartmoor National Park.The'capital of new- agechic' (according to Time magazine),it's a
has attracted centuriesof sailors- from medieval cmsadersand pilgrim fathersto fishermenand gin-palaceyachties.Dartmouth Casde,and its Kingswear counte{part, have guarded the mouth
hotbed of ethical shopping,alternativetherapies, wind turbines and vegetarianorganics- an outlook kicked ofi, perhaps,in the Twentiesby
of the River Dart for 600 years.And even now on a hillside abovethe town, the imposing
Dartington Hall Trust. The fishing port of Brixham (threemiles eastof Kingswear)is a little
Britannia Royal Naval College (designedin 1905 by George Aston Webb) still churns out officers for Her Majesty'sNavy.
scruffierthan Dartmouth; Salcombe,40minutes to the south, is a litde ghaier.Yet, for locals, all theseplacesareon their home patch.
Seafaringaside,Dartmouth is a draw for high-spendtourists.Its climate is saidto be one
When SarahDuggan decidedto leaveLondon for a new life in Devon (she now runs Ba:rters
the free-thinking foundersof the arts{ed
L
the ForDartmoutn,on * RobertSeymour, (below)wasa dreamproject. Riverhouse Builton the siteof a post-wartimber-framed property,it was,he says,'a money-no-object Initial scheme'.Butit wasn'tall plainsailing. plansmeta stormof localprotest;the site (the'modern, itselfwaschallenging to be slottedintoa minimalist building'had plotsandwiched tight,conservation-area betweena two-metrecliff,the water'sedge andthe paftywallof an existingprope0); E _q o @
g"1Lry in Dartmouth town centre), shewas seekinga reminiscenceof childhood holidays, but shewas more atffacted to the town's vibe than
somethingabout the place; -E its geography.'There's .9 E o o u
;E
-N E o M o
it's got areal.buzz,'shesays.A round of local festivals- a music festival in early May,aregartzin August, Agatha Christie week in September, food and fishing festivalsin October - keep the
E place alive all.yearround; 80 per cent of the 0 l
;
E _a o U
shopsare independent; and there are lovely beacheson the doorstep.'It's just a really interestingplaceto live,'saysSarah.
o G o o J
you buy? * What can E
-g c o .9 o c .9
z
o I .a c
;E -g o c m c o o 6
Elizabethan merchants'housesline the waterfront embankment and the na:row streets and squarearound the market;someare hal-f:timberedwith jettied upper storeysand ornateplasterwork(of note is the Grade l-listed Butterwalk - a slate-hung,timber-framed zrcade, supported on granite piers). At BayardsCove, terracesof colour-washed townhousesset the scenefor maritime costume dramas;jolly
seamen'scottagescram the narrow steppedalleys of the undercliff;and, on a former shipyard,Dart Marina (designedbyKay Elliott Architects,
all materials of planning, and,as a condition hadto be deliveredby waterusinga floating
j;l:T,H:ilffi: :"ffi:il ;lT:ffi "
ct ca 2007) offers contemporary waterfront housing in a traditional sryle.Ifyou want gardensand parking (both in short supply), step awayfrom the harbour - for Victorian terraces,
and cantilevered decks,terraces,courtyards glassbays,the houseis a blendof untreated glass aquarium oakboards, steeltubing,
Thirties suburbiaand bungalow cul-de-sacs. Some of the Dart Estuary'smost desirable housessit at its highest points looking down
and curvedwhitemasonry.Soonafter completionin 20@, the f,3.5millionhouse won two awards(fromRIBA and TheDaily
on the Dartmouth-Kingswear harbours.
Building from scratch
f:T:i:il:: H.Hlff
resti nsproj ect
Potential renovationsand conversionsare in short supply - as arebuilding plots, which are pricey hence a favourite self-build route among Dartmouth's affiuent buyers is to demolish and rebuild. Despite the predominanceof conservationareas,and a conservativemindset, local planners,basedinTotnes, aregenerally sympathetic to good-quality contemporary builds - an early exampleis the daringly modernist + High CrossHouse, designedint932by
/ JUIY 20rl t45 GRrlrD DEsrGlr$
Where To Live
Thkea lookat this month!?ick of houses andprojectsforsale in Dartmoutlt
TownhouseA classicVictorian propertywithin end-of{errace walkingdistanceof the harbour, Swiss-AmericanarchitectWilliam Lescazefor the Elmhirsts of Dartington Ha1l.
New developments Sincethe award-winning Dart Marina (Best International Marina Development,2007) there hasnt been much other than a smatteringof one-off houses,small residentialdevelopments (apartmentsatWestWater Court, for example) and - on the coastthat headssouth towards
by afire that ripped through FairfaxPlacein 2070 - though it seemscertain that its cindered listed buildings arebeyondrepair.And plansto build a{2.5mi11ionindoor pool complexare still unresolved(an architecturalcompetition, launched
rI$:T::il:'J: ilh gardens.MarchandPett Q1803 8391 90;marchandpetit.co. uk)
last year,hasnot progressedbeyondthe shordist).
Getting there The usualway is to head south off the A38, and
Salcombe- two new-build hotels:South Sands openedin 2010, and Gara Rock due for
wiggle down to the coaston the slow road through Totnes.The more romantic way is by boat (leavethe M5 at Exeter,head for Kingswear
completion at the end of 201.1..Intown, a questionmark still hangsover the wreckageleft
and then board the River Dart car ferry), though the five-minute crossinginto Dartmouth can involve high-seasonqueuesof up to an hour.
0n the waterfrontWiththree bedrooms andtwoand a half
Famous faces
By car from London, via the M4A{5, the 230-mile journey takesaround four and a half hours.Mainline train servicesrun from
acresof land,thisformermill
Dartmouth's famoussonsinclude ironmongerThomas seventeenth-century l{ewcomen, who inventedthe firstpractical steampumpingengineand eighteenth-
Paddingtonto Totnes;an off-peak return fare costsaroundd62.The nearestairport is Exeter International,30 miles to the north.
Dartmouth. Stags@1803835 336;stags.co.uk)
centuryparsonJackRussell, whogavehis nameto the popularbreedof dog.For20 years,crimewriterAgathaChristieholidayed
Thke a deepbreath,becausethis is not for the
- now at her RiverDarthome,Greenway ownedbythe NationalTrust.Christopher RobinMilne(whoinspiredhisfather's
of the most expensivepropertiesin the South West.In its golden postcodes(Warfleet, for example)averagehousepriceshover around
Winniethe Poohstories) escapedto Dartmouth in 1951to openthe Harbour Bookshop. Andmodern-day SouthHams
{1million. Atwo-bedroom houseon DartMarina sellsfor around f,1,.2mi1lion;Georgian townhouses go for around{500,000. And Kingswear,which
Boathouse Withdirectaccessto the river,this propertyis currently
attractscelebrityhomebuyers,among themBlur/Gorillaz frontmanDamon Albarn (atnearbyHallsands), presenter television JennieBond(EasiPrawle)and comic
hasbetter accessand fewer propertieswith river views,can be evenmore expensive.But dont glve up. Ifyou headinland you can pick up a
arrangedastwotwo-bedroom apartments, withplanning permission to extendupwards
good-sizedterracedhousefor lessthan.{300,000, or a bijou urban cottagefor under{250,000. On
onefloor.MarchandPetit 01803
RikMayall(EastAllingon).
What's the cost? faint-hearted.Devon'sChelsea-on-seahas some
a budget?Have a look at Brixham. GD
140 / GRA*D Dr$rG*$ / JUrY 20'
cottagesitson the banksof Old MillCreekon the ruraloutskirts of
839 190;marchandpetit.co uk)