The house of my life

My mother’s house sits perched at the top of the hill in Hythe with huge views over the sea. It was the first house my parents bought 30 years ago and I grew up there with my brothers until I was 7.

After my parents got divorced and my mum remarried, I was privileged to live in some incredible houses over a period of 10 years- in fact I was originally going to write about one of them but couldn’t get my mother’s house out of my mind. The situation changed and eventually it was my mum and I living together again back at our house with the view in the home she had always refused to sell.

Now I have my own place and that has a different emotion all together but whenever I’ve been away and felt homesick, it’s the view out my mum’s window and the feel of drinking tea chatting in her kitchen that comes to mind. I think that is why it deserves to be the house I’ve only just realised, it always has been.

The Individual

Fondly referred to as the crooked house, this building is a fine example of a seventeenth century timber-framed town house dating back to 1647. Situated in the heart of Canterbury and formerly the Old King’s shop, the building leans to one side at an alarming angle and is three and a half stories high- even the door is fitted at a very steep angle.

The distinctive lean of the building probably started in the nineteenth century when the doorway was inserted through one side of the central chimney stack. This destabilized the stack which gradually tipped over pushing the timber frame with it. This movement reached a critical point during the nineteen eighties when a concerted effort was made to stabilise the structure which would otherwise have collapsed.

Its precarious appearance attracts many tourists and largely retains its original form and character making it one of the best examples of its type in Canterbury. The steel frame fitted in the 90’s to prevent further movement now accordingly means it is in extremely good condition.

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