Real homes: could you live in a house like this?

Fancy a change of scene? You could always rent this former coastguard lookout, converted into an airy home by the interior/architect practice, Johnson Naylor, currently on the lettings market in Dungeness, Kent.

The rent is £1,450 pcm – but could you handle the location?

The house, which has two bedrooms, is bang in the middle of the shingle beach at Dungeness – the largest area of shingle in Europe, no less – and close to Camber Sands and a big nature reserve. The area is also home of Derek Jarman's renowned garden and house.

Views from the property are not for the faint-hearted: vast skies, sea almost lapping at your kitchen doors (which open onto a little terrace that leads directly onto the shingle), a lighthouse and a looming, part-abandoned power station. I quite like the drama and eccentricity of it all.

The 1950s structure remains as it was when first built on the outside, while inside there are limestone floors, a wood-burning stove and underfloor heating. And, you may imagine, there's free parking outside and the house has a decent amount of its own surrounding land. Though quite what you'd do with that I'm not sure. Extreme gardening? Perhaps Derek J's plot might offer inspiration.

The open staircase overlooking the living space below gives a sense of connectedness in what could be otherwise be quite a cold building. The utilitarian stairs themselves, though, may not be for everyone.

As it is a rental property, you'd want to check you could put up some pictures to warm the place up a little (or at least, I would) and there's a slight downer in the contract in that you're only allowed to be in situ three weeks out of every four.

All photographs by Peter Marlow / Magnum

To find out more about this property or to enquire about renting it, contact Themodernhouse.net