I was sitting in the Methodist chapel in the late summer when I had a vision.
The building is for sale and the museum doesn’t appear to want it.
Could it provide new spaces for older people to live in, designed by and for them individually?
No narrow steep stairs, no uneven floors, no draughty windows and doors, but warm homes with easy access, good kitchens and bathrooms in a building which fits in Church Square but is of its time, just like the chapel when it was built. Same size footprint, same height, same magnificent views to the sea and to St Mary’s.
No need to cram in lots of little flats, just a few. All the simple changes to accommodate the displeasures of age, storage space for the treasures of life. No bending down to reach electricity points, a lift to access all properties, wide doors, benches in showers and useful handles.
The adventurous could purchase their own space and design their own home. That would be an interesting challenge to keep brains active.
Long standing Rye residents who moved in would stay local but would release a desirable home for someone new to move into.
It would be an interesting challenge for a developer, architects and Rother planners and it could craft a different path to new homes which are desired by locals, not forced upon them.
Discuss...
