06-25-2011, 06:43 AM
his summer place~~
![[Image: article-0-0CB0FAF300000578-949_634x805.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/06/24/article-0-0CB0FAF300000578-949_634x805.jpg)
The Victorian author spent his summer holidays at the cliff-top residence and wrote the novel David Copperfield there.
The sea views of the English Channel from the study also inspired his 1852 book Bleak House.
After his death in 1870 the six-bed property was renamed from Fort House to Bleak House in his honour.
The four story grade II mansion in Broadstairs, Kent, has now been put on the market for £2million.
Dickens and his family visited the property ever summer for 22 years. He called it 'our little watering place'.
Melaine Backe-Hansen, a house historian for estate agents Chesterton Humberts of Canterbury, said: 'As a favourite holiday home of Charles Dickens and his family, Bleak House is a fascinating property with a unique history.
'Dickens completed his novel David Copperfield here and it is where he was inspired to write Bleak House.
'The property was very important to Dickens as he often stayed there on his frequent visits to Broadstairs.
'According to John Forster, a friend and official biographer of Dickens, Bleak House was 'the residence he most desired'.
'His daughter, Mamie Dickens, also said that Bleak House was the one 'on which he had always set his affections'.
'The property was also visited by other prominent figures including novelist Wilkie Collins and prime minister William Gladstone.'
Bleak House was built in 1801 and was the home of the local fort captain during the Napoleonic wars.
Dickens's permanent residence was about 20 miles away at Gad's Hill Place at Higham, near Chatham, Kent.
From 1837 to 1859 Dickens leased Fort House from the private owner for his family's summer holidays.
After it was renamed Bleak House the property was turned into a museum in tribute to the author before going into private ownership again.
The study is on the extreme right of the building, looking out to sea.
Although it is privately owned there are several items from when it was a museum still in the room today.
'Dickens's whole panorama was of sailing activity.'
James Grillo, of estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: 'This is a property that could be seen as an antique, and there are a number of buyers who buy properties with this sort of provenance because they just relish the opportunity of being a custodian of such a historic house.
'This is a beautiful property in a stunning location, an opinion obviously shared by Dickens himself.
The Victorian author spent his summer holidays at the cliff-top residence and wrote the novel David Copperfield there.
The sea views of the English Channel from the study also inspired his 1852 book Bleak House.
After his death in 1870 the six-bed property was renamed from Fort House to Bleak House in his honour.
The four story grade II mansion in Broadstairs, Kent, has now been put on the market for £2million.
Dickens and his family visited the property ever summer for 22 years. He called it 'our little watering place'.
Melaine Backe-Hansen, a house historian for estate agents Chesterton Humberts of Canterbury, said: 'As a favourite holiday home of Charles Dickens and his family, Bleak House is a fascinating property with a unique history.
'Dickens completed his novel David Copperfield here and it is where he was inspired to write Bleak House.
'The property was very important to Dickens as he often stayed there on his frequent visits to Broadstairs.
'According to John Forster, a friend and official biographer of Dickens, Bleak House was 'the residence he most desired'.
'His daughter, Mamie Dickens, also said that Bleak House was the one 'on which he had always set his affections'.
'The property was also visited by other prominent figures including novelist Wilkie Collins and prime minister William Gladstone.'
Bleak House was built in 1801 and was the home of the local fort captain during the Napoleonic wars.
Dickens's permanent residence was about 20 miles away at Gad's Hill Place at Higham, near Chatham, Kent.
From 1837 to 1859 Dickens leased Fort House from the private owner for his family's summer holidays.
After it was renamed Bleak House the property was turned into a museum in tribute to the author before going into private ownership again.
The study is on the extreme right of the building, looking out to sea.
Although it is privately owned there are several items from when it was a museum still in the room today.
'Dickens's whole panorama was of sailing activity.'
James Grillo, of estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: 'This is a property that could be seen as an antique, and there are a number of buyers who buy properties with this sort of provenance because they just relish the opportunity of being a custodian of such a historic house.
'This is a beautiful property in a stunning location, an opinion obviously shared by Dickens himself.
