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Industrial Designer Renovates Old British Military Tower Into Family Home

This is the 19th-Century version of that nuclear missile silo AirBNB

By Rain Noe - January 10, 2018

in Interior/Exhibition Design

In the market for a new home for his family some years ago, industrial designer Duncan Jackson purchased what you might call a fixer-upper: Martello Tower Y, a massive Napoleonic-era circular fortification situated on the cost of Suffolk.

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England began building these Martello towers all along their coast in the early 1800s, anticipating that the French fleet would come knocking. Even though they never came Tower Y, like many others, was left standing because it's kind of a hassle to tear down something that's made out of a million bricks.

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Jackson enlisted the services of architecture firm Piercy & Co, renovated the structure and even drilled a four-meter-long diagonal clerestory shaft into the wall. Have a look at what they've done with the place:

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Pretty darn sweet.

It appears that Jackson didn't stay too long, however; while the renovations were complete by 2010, he sold it in 2014, and the new owner is renting the space out for vacationers. This is basically the 19th-Century version of that nuclear missile silo that was turned into an AirBNB rental.

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Jay Davis

6 years ago

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So like are these structures all cheap to purchase or do you gotta be rich beforehand?

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  Jay Davis
  
  6 years ago
  
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  Looking at the level of refinement on this remodel, I'd say this guy started with money. The curved glass curtain wall, the custom steel structure, not to mention the amount of updating required to make the home habitable (indoor plumbing), all lead me to believe this was a very expensive undertaking.
  
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