Whitby Hornblower Lodge ex-foghorn station up for sale

Foghorns like the one on Hornblower Lodge are navigation aids in poor visibility warning shipping of rocks

A Victorian former foghorn station perched on the Yorkshire coast is up for sale with a £750,000 price tag.

Hornblower Lodge, near Whitby, built in the 1850s, was decommissioned as a foghorn in 1988 and is now a house.

The landmark home could be familiar to walkers on the Cleveland Way as the long-distance path passes by the cliff-top property.

Despite being no longer in use, the foghorn remains in place on the roof of the 19th Century building.

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The lodge may also be remembered by BBC TV viewers as it featured on Escape to the Country.

Estate agent Leo Thai, manager of Jacksons in Whitby, said it was "a bit of a lottery property - its nearest neighbour is a lighthouse".

The four-bedroom building was built on rock and the nearby cliffs are stable, says estate agent Leo Thai

Many people who had so far viewed the property were keen to have a "change of lifestyle", Mr Thai said.

"People had time to breathe in lockdown and liked not being tied as much to an office, so coastal towns are finding an influx of buyers.

"Instead of living 15 minutes from the office, they want to be 15 minutes from the beach," he said.

Alex Goldstein, a property consultant in Harrogate, said he had seen the same trend bubbling away for about a decade, but it had recently accelerated.

"Buyers have stopped, analysed what they want out of life-work balance, and now they can have a remote base and come to the office less," he said.

The whole of Yorkshire and not just the coast was experiencing a rush of buyers, including from London and abroad, from people with connections to the county, Mr Goldstein added.

"Harrogate, York, Ilkley and Leeds are experiencing a shortage of supply and every price bracket has gone up.

"This is bad news for first-time buyers or people working in industries such as hospitality who are left behind," he added.

The Victorian building is not listed and has a lighthouse as its nearest neighbour