British 19th century, Danish design and craftsmanship from around the world. Christina Byrn’s home has been mixed together with a sure hand.

But from the beginning the apartment was in such bad condition that no one else wanted it.

Christina Byrn didn’t have to cross the river for water to find her apartment in the seaside town of St Leonards-on-sea outside Hastings in south-east England. When it came on the market in 2016, she lived next door with her then-husband Elio.

• We first thought of merging the apartments, but shortly after that we agreed to separate. He still lives with my stepson and we are very good friends. Elio helped renovate my new apartment, says Christina.

Unlike the other speculators, she had a strong vision of how the apartment could turn out.

• The fact that I got it was because no one else wanted it. It was in a deplorable state, with rot in the floors and ant invasion. Some of the windows were so rotted that you could stick your finger through the frame, she says.