Christina Bryn by Bruce Hemming

Christina Bryn
Pictures by Bruce Hemming

This interesting groundfloor apartment in Allegria Court St Leonards on Sea (Hastings). The house itself was built by James and Decimus Burton in the ‘Regency cottage’ style, as part of their development of the St Leonards New Town and was lived in by the Burton family at some point. As there are a number of houses that can claim to have been lived in by the Burtons it is probable that it was built as a speculative development and sold soon after. Although Grade 2 listed like many Burton houses in the area, it had not fared well over the years. It had been split into a number of units and the apartment required complete restoration when Christina Byrn bought it in 2016. She rationalised the layout and the major works included replacing all the windows and exterior doors as the wood had rotted.

Christina is Danish but has lived in many countries during her career working for the International Red Cross. She has lived in St Leonards for 20 years and also has an apartment in the Marais in Paris. On her travels she collected interesting and beautiful objects and says, ‘I have always been interested in finding beautiful objects in far reached marketplaces and marry them, without limitations of style and culture.’