“When I spotted the place it was simply a fright. It was completely derelict
and in a pretty parlous condition,” explains Mills, who specialises in
transforming unusual buildings, often former commercial premises, into
distinctive houses.

One problem was that the property’s most appealing features – those tall cowls
and a large round kiln – were awkward shapes for turning into practical
living space. “I tackled the kiln head-on and used it for a kitchen,
custom-made to turn the roundel into something practical rather than just
ornamental. In the cowls I’ve put in mezzanine spaces which can be leisure
for kids, office accommodation or bedrooms,” he says.

_{Ian Mills has turned Little Halden Oast into a stunning home (ANDREW
CROWLEY)}

The result is a house boasting five bedrooms and 5,400sq ft of living space,
much of it showing off modern oak and cherry timber, with glass to bring in
natural light.

There are still plenty of original elements . Part of a tiled kiln roof has
been made a feature in one living room, exposed 19th-century beams dominate
the upper levels of the house, and there are even hook-holes in one timber
where hop sacks used to hang.

Close to the main property in the half acre of grounds sits a former cart barn
converted into a triple garage with additional office, living or games room
space upstairs.

Conversions of large listed properties do not come cheap: Little Halden Oast
is for sale for £1.8 million with Winbrooks (winbrooks.co.uk;
01798 872827). It has the feel of a new home inside yet the external
appearance of a classic piece of English architecture.

_{The sitting room (ANDREW CROWLEY)}

Although oast houses are regarded by many as typifying the vernacular building
style of Kent and Sussex, where most surviving examples are found, they can
also be seen in the Cotswolds, Hampshire and even in Belgium and Australia.

Their pleasing shape and appearance are both down to functionality, not
aesthetics.

They were built to dry hops when they were introduced to England in the 16th
century. Some early oast houses were converted barns and their distinctive
multi-storey cowled shape became a feature of the south-east English
countryside from the mid 1700s.

They were usually two or three storeys tall to optimise the space for hops to
be spread out on mesh floors and dried by timber or charcoal, which was set
alight in a kiln at the bottom. At the top, heat escaped through the cowl.

Traditionally shaped oasts were built up to the Forties before giving way to
industrial-size versions that looked like large sheds.

Although converting old oasts to residential use dates back to the early 20th
century, the idea of transforming them into homes did not begin in earnest
until the Seventies.

“About 75 per cent of oast houses were converted in a 20-year period up to
1990 and most of the rest since,” says a spokesman for the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

If modernised to a high standard they can be spacious and airy, but many were
converted cheaply by people who wanted a project but didn’t always have the
budget to match. As a result, many appear tired and need refurbishment all
over again, while others have had sections sold off separately over time,
thus preventing buyers having the space or privacy they would expect for
a seven-figure price tag.

“More often than not oast houses were originally part of small homesteads
consisting of a main farmhouse, a barn and an oast. In most cases these have
now been split up and converted into separate properties,” says Rupert
Nicholson of Property Vision, a buying agency which shortlists possible
homes for wealthy prospective purchasers.

Even so, Nicholson says those good-quality conversions undertaken by
professionals hold their value well even in today’s challenging market.

Certainly there is plenty of choice for buyers. There are about 20 oasts on
sale across Britain, mostly in the South East. Where Little Halden scores
highly is in size and quality – two points where it may have caught rival
oast houses on the hop.

Oast houses for sale

1. Oak Apple, Roughway, nr Plaxtol, Kent This triple oast and barn
conversion has more than 4,600 sq ft of living space, including five
bedrooms, four paddocks, and a copse and stream within its 10.39 acres. For
sale for £2.25 million with Strutt Parker (struttandparker.com;
01732 459900).

2. Nash Oast, at Marden Park Thorn, Marden, near Tonbridge, Kent This
six-bedroom oast house on 13 acres also has a tennis court and heated
outdoor pool. For sale for £1.95 million with Savills (savills.co.uk;
01580 720161).

3. Park Farm Oast, Bodiam, East Sussex Eight acres of land and views
across the Rother Valley come with this five-bedroom oast house, converted
by the owners 40 years ago. It features a swimming pool and paddocks and is
for sale for £1.2 million with Batcheller Monkhouse (batchellermonkhouse.com;
01424 775577).