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Two seafront home owners with their properties up for sale talk about the allure of living on the edge of Southsea. Words by Kate Pearce and Sophie Lederer.
I first interviewed Sophie Lederer a while back when she and her family were moving from their beautiful Yarborough Road abode. They planned to move close to the seafront and I’ve watched their progress with interest as their penthouse property has evolved. Living nearby in Burgoyne Road and often passing their property en route to the seafront, I was intrigued to hear her take on seafront living.
Coincidentally, we both have our homes on the market, and I thought it would be interesting to share our thoughts on the joy of living by the sea.
Sophie explained: “We bought and moved into the Penthouse in November 2022, having sold our family home of 20 years in Yarborough Road. The plan had been to move out of Southsea in search of more outdoor space and a different lifestyle. But, not being able to find anything suitable at the time, we instead went for the Penthouse – an exciting opportunity to ‘live on the edge’ of Southsea and so enjoy some of the attractions of living out of town; and a project with fantastic potential.”
When I asked Sophie how her home interacts with the seafront setting, here is what she had to say.
“Of course, to have the beach literally on our doorstep is very special – to be able to just pop across for a swim, to walk the amazing new promenade, or for a drink at The Briny. But to be honest, the real joy is the experience afforded by front-line Penthouse living and the home that we have created. With its frontage of curtainless windows and French doors with balconies (and matching French doors with balconies in each of the bedrooms at the rear), the Penthouse is completely open to and embracing of its prime location and spectacular view.”
From a personal point of view, my partner Paul and I have thoroughly enjoyed living just a hop, skip and jump from the beach. We’ve been in the crescent of townhouses in Burgoyne Road for a decade or more. We moved in the wake of Paul receiving a cancer diagnosis, and we hoped that having the proximity of the beach would prove to be the perfect tonic.
Sophie Lederer’s seafront apartment. Photos on this page by Matthew Stevens
Walking on the promenade during the lockdown was a positive way to deal with the strangeness of the pandemic – the waves kept rolling in and out even though our worlds were turned upside down.
If I had to sum up what’s best about living by the beach, it’s the early morning walks when you find countless pink-hued scallop shells or the aftermath of a stormy night when you put the starfish back in the water before the gulls strike.
It’s the couple dancing on the outcrop of our fancy new promenade, unaware of the audience they’ve gathered, and walking back home from town on a warm summer’s night, and finding people still enjoying the beach near midnight.
Kate Thompson’s magical garden
But Sophie summed it up best when she said: “Our home is literally a front row balcony seat from which we get not just to watch, but to live the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s Theatre of the Sea; and in which, as written on the wall, “the performance is never the same one day to the next”. Played out across the sea and horizon by swooping gulls and billowing sails, the huge edifices of cruise liners and building blocks of cargo ships, lit by the sun and moon and the twinkling festoons of multi-coloured lights, and accompanied by the weather – all is pure poetry!”
https://www.christieuk.com/property/residential/for-sale/southsea/south-parade/34141614
https://pearsons.com/properties/burgoyne-road-southsea/PSSCC_695579
Posted in: History & Architecture, Home & Garden
