A Grade II-listed mansion and former furniture store due to be transformed into a gated mews and flats are on the market for £1.9 million.

Townley House and the vacant Farleys Funiture shop in Ramsgate are at the centre of ambitious plans to return the historic home and grounds to its former grandeur following years of neglect.

Farleys, which had run from the Chatham Street premises since 1928 when it first opened, has moved to a new temporary home in St Lawrence and the empty store was due to be demolished.

But the site is now up for sale, for either £1.895 million for the whole plot, or as two separate lots - Townley House for £700,000 and the new build part of the land for £1.2 million.

It comes with planning consent for nine houses and 14 flats.

Plans drawn up by Ramsgate-based architects del Renzio & del Renzio for property developers and owners of the site CorePi were given the go-ahead from Thanet District Council in 2018.

The approved scheme is for apartments and a gated development of mews houses, car parking and communal spaces.

The plan is to retain, restore and reintroduce a range of the building's original architectural features and remodelling of the main house to create self-contained flats.

The demolition of a rear extension, late Edwardian shops and warehouse building on the site, will make room for nine contemporary new houses.

Townley House was designed in 1792 by one of the country's finest female architects, Mary Townley, and is considered one of the most important buildings in Ramsgate.

The construction was funded by husband Charles Townley, a landowner and developer in the late 18th century who also built part of Albion Place, Spencer Square and the Royal Crescent in the town.

It was originally a family home for the highly influential couple and their eight children, surrounded by extensive grounds containing pleasure gardens, graperies, an ice house and a well.

The building had fallen into a state of disrepair by the 1960s and applications were made for its demolition to make way for a petrol station and vehicle showroom in 1965, but instead it was granted Grade II listing in 1974.

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