He owned a fine house, architect-designed to his own specifications, and although the building of it had been attended with many petty frustrations and delays, this trade having seemingly made few improvements in its methods and working practices since the construction of the Pyramids, the final result had been worth waiting for. It was a house designed for comfortable and convenient living, rather than boasting of the owner’s social status. The front elevation was simple, the porch and front door modest in their proportions. The principal object of interest to be seen from the windows on that side was the Sandgate Lift, a funicular system ingeniously worked by hydraulic power which conveyed passengers up to and down from the heights of the Folkestone Leas – fascinating to those of a technical cast of mind, but of no picturesque value. The glory of the house was its rear aspect, which faced south, its white-painted rough-cast surfaces reflecting the light and absorbing the warmth of the sun.
