Although this bed and breakfast is new (2012), we discovered that in 1864 Christina Rossetti (pre-Raphaelite poet and sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti) lodged in this house. While here she wrote to her friend about the "very comfortable lodgings over a leather shop in the unfashionable High Street. Though our passage and staircase is liable to smell leathery our apartments are free from this drawback". (From Christina Rossetti by Frances Thomas).

Fortunately, these days our shop on the ground floor does not emanate such smells throughout the house! The Four Poster Room and its exclusive bathroom take up the whole of the third floor of this Georgian bow fronted house, apart from a landing which leads to the fourth floor.

Since Christina Rossetti stayed here the stunning rooftop views from the Four Poster Room have changed little, with the sea to the south and the East Hill (where you can nowadays see the lift). Today, the room comes with modern essentials such as a flat screen TV/DVD player, complementary wireless broadband and tea/coffee making facilities.