Neighbours have been left stunned by the colourful appearance of four \u201cLego-like\u201d homes being built on the Kent coast.<\/p>\n
The eye-catching properties – each finished in a different pastel shade and inspired by traditional beach huts – have been turning heads in Greatstone, near New Romney.<\/p>\n
The homes in Coast Drive have been likened to Lego buildings and drawn a mixed reaction<\/p>\n
But some locals say the three-storey houses look \u201cnothing like\u201d they expected when planning permission was first secured by Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) in 2021, with computer-generated images at the time showing a far more muted design.<\/p>\n
However, the site was sold in 2023, with the new owners gaining approval for amended plans that allowed parts of the exterior to be clad in blue, pink, yellow and green metal panels – although updated CGIs were not released.<\/p>\n
Lee Dryden, who moved to Greatstone with his wife three years ago, says he never expected to find himself living beside what he describes as \u201chorrendous\u201d homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wanted to go where there were houses like that, I\u2019d have moved to somewhere like Brighton,\u201d the 68-year-old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have had a problem if they were like the designs shown on the initial CGIs, but if I knew they were going to look like this, I\u2019d have objected.<\/p>\n
How the council\u2019s CGIs showcased the designs when planning permission was first secured. Picture: On Architecture
Lee Dryden says the colourful homes would be better suited to somewhere like Brighton than Greatstone<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if it hasn\u2019t affected values of homes around here, I guarantee you what it has done is detract from their sellability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t fit in any way shape or form.\u201d<\/p>\n
The homes, being built on former council-owned wasteland in Coast Drive, have been likened by some residents to Lego buildings, while neighbour Clare Chapman believes they resemble \u201ccontainers\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old behaviour analyst told KentOnline: \u201cWhen the wasteland was going to be developed on, I was quite open to it because it\u2019s better to have some development than just empty wasteland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of the colour, they\u2019re a bit garish and I didn\u2019t realise they were going to be multicoloured – I was surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my cup of tea but I\u2019m sure they look lovely inside, and the builders have been fantastic with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The homes sit on land behind Varne Boat Club, with construction workers currently using the venue\u2019s car park while work continues.<\/p>\n
Boat club commodore Zalan Paksy believes the striking properties have given the area a lift.<\/p>\n
Clare Chapman likened the three-storey homes to \u2018containers\u2019
Boat club commodore Zalan Paksy believes the homes have given the area a lift<\/p>\n
\u201cThe colours are interesting, and I think it needed a bit of a lift from the previous design, to be honest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much special colour that this area has not really had before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re driving down, it always captures your attention – you can\u2019t ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Construction bosses, who have been on site since June, say work is expected to be completed within the next four weeks.<\/p>\n
TG Designer Homes, the scheme\u2019s developer, says it understands why the design has divided opinion.<\/p>\n
Anthony Ralph, who founded the company alongside his wife Theresa in 2005, says the aim has always been to create \u201chouses of interest\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Ralph, 50, explained: \u201cWe wanted to ensure they were unique in design and they represented our modern take on a traditional beach hut.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we build designs, people don\u2019t pay full attention to what\u2019s going on in the background.<\/p>\n
Developers believe residents \u2018will get used\u2019 to the designs
The four homes are being built in Coast Drive, Greatstone, on land behind Varne Boat Club<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public are seeing it behind scaffolding at the moment – it will surprise people and they will get used to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always been committed to only creating homes that we would be proud of and happy to live in ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in response to comparisons with Lego buildings, the developer joked: \u201cWho doesn\u2019t like Lego?\u201d<\/p>\n
When approving the amended colour scheme in January 2024, FHDC described the overall changes as \u201cminor\u201d.<\/p>\n
An officer\u2019s report stated: \u201cIt is not considered it would be harmful to the overall aesthetic of the dwellings and in turn would not have an adverse impact upon the visual amenity of the street scene and surrounding area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detached properties, originally earmarked as holiday lets, are now set to become standard homes.<\/p>\n
Plans show the ground floors will include a private two-car port, a large boat store, a bathroom and a garden room.<\/p>\n
The first floors will contain three bedrooms, with the master bedroom featuring an en-suite and dressing room.<\/p>\n
At the top of each property will be an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area opening onto a large wraparound terrace deck complete with a hot tub and outdoor seating.<\/p>\n
Nearby, Folkestone and Hythe District Council is preparing to open the Changing Tides Coastal Centre.<\/p>\n
KentOnline previously reported that Reynolds Ice Cream will open a new caf\u00e9 at the venue.<\/p>\n
The \u00a31.5 million project will also feature 93 beach huts alongside a watersports centre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neighbours have been left stunned by the colourful appearance of four \u201cLego-like\u201d homes being built on the Kent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,192,191,649,3863,194,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-574344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-quirky","tag-romney-marsh","tag-syndicate","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}