Isle of Wight home of Grand Designs architect on sale for £2.25m

The home of architect Lincoln Miles and artist Lisa Traxler is in St Lawrence and is now for sale through Spence Willard.

The couple's previous home was featured on TV programme Grand Designs, and was named by presenter Kevin McCloud as one of his favourites of all time.

Lincoln went on to convert The Bunker into a home and the couple have lived there for several years.

Lisa has previously opened it to the public for exhibitions of her art.

Resting on an acre plot and surrounded by SSSI conservation land, The Bunker looks out uninterrupted, to the Channel. 

The superb home of around 3,000 sq. ft. incorporates the existing concrete bunker as a gallery space.

In addition, two Nissen huts have been repurposed as studio workspaces and occasional rentals.

The historical bunker served as a former Royal Air Force radar station and was ideally positioned to monitor the south coast of Britain during the Second World War, as part of the Chain Home Network from 1941 until 1947.

A parking area for several vehicles becomes a more formal brick paved drive leading under a carport; its canopy a grassy mound that incorporates the building into the hillside.

Beneath it is space for more vehicles, as well as access to the garage and convenient points of entry via the front door, utility and kitchen.

Externally, the house is a combination of fibre cement panels, glazing and the use of Richlight as brise soleil, all set against the sand-coloured concrete of the bunker and its blast wall.

Richlight was chosen as the material for the fins for its resistance to the coastal elements and its angular perforations, designed by Lisa Traxler, are a nod to the ‘dazzle’ patterns of camouflage attributed to the marine artist Norman Wilkinson.

Inside, a long corridor links the two ground floor portions with the kitchen and living space in the south western corner and the bunker occupying the eastern section.

Its towering concrete walls create a monolithic cave-like setting.

A cast concrete staircase curves down to the double height living space where there is a log burner.

A wall of south-facing glazing offers sea views beyond rolling fields from both levels.

The corridor contains a mass of storage behind plywood doors and leads to a two-level utility room. There is also a guest WC.

There are three bedrooms on the first floor.

The plot is just over one acre.