How Two Artists Turned a Coastal Military Site into a Dream Home

9,400 kilometers northeast, off the south coast of England, lies the Isle of Wight. Known for its coastal scenery and lush countryside, this island played a big part in the success of the Allied forces during World War II. Today, an intriguing wartime relic has been transformed into an inspiring secret home. Hidden under the landscape, on the edge of the island's south coast, is an historic structure that's been reinvented for 21st century living. This building was originally constructed as a radar station during the war. Today, it's being transformed into the secret bunker house. The owners of this historic home are architect Lincoln Miles and his wife, artist Lisa Traxler. We acquired the site three years ago. It was a gift of a project, you know, it's a Second World War bunker in the landscape next to the sea. What's not to love about that? So it was like the ultimate project. The house covers 287 square meters over two floors. On the top floor, there is a master bedroom with dressing room, ensuite bathroom and sauna, reading room and guest room with bathroom. On the ground floor, there's a living room, kitchen and dining room. A long corridor connects the house to the old bunker itself. It was a no-brainer in one way because it's so beautiful here and I think the history of the place for me was just amazing. Once they bought the site and decided to incorporate the old bunker into the build of their new home, Lisa undertook extensive research on the abandoned building that had been built in 1942. It was really on the front line during the Second World War, so it was very, very important for the UK and I think just uncovering this history and the stories behind what was going on here, it just drew me in. The more and more I looked into it, there were so many more layers to it. The bunker had been built as an early warning radar station by the Royal Air Force to detect and track enemy aircraft and warn the nation of their approach. It was the most southerly radar station in Britain. The idea when we were talking together about doing this project was the fact that we talked about not doing anything with the bunker, so we weren't making it into a kitchen, we weren't making it into a spare room, that sort of thing. I think we're very lucky that we've been able to leave it very pure, so it's still what it actually was. The design of this dwelling which hooks into the existing bunker is done in such a way that the foundations don't meet, aren't joining, the buildings are separated by a void. That was important to us. Strip us out and you're back to 1942. Effectively, I described the house as hidden in plain sight. It's here, you can see it, but it's a silhouette, but what is it? It reveals itself as you go around the corners, but still not sure what it is. Lincoln and Lisa designed the facade of the house to resemble the military camouflage system called dazzle camouflage. The striking pattern was developed originally to protect warships at sea. Its idea was it was painted onto vessels out at sea, huge geometric patterning all over the side of the vessels, and what this did was it confused the eye. I just thought how fascinating this would be on our building, so how could we wrap our building in a dazzle camouflage? The result is a steel system that enhances the modern feel of the house, but at the same time looks to its past. As you cross the threshold, you enter straight into the open plan living space. Only when you come through this door, this entrance here, this portal here, does it really unfold and reveal the brilliance of the space. This is the first time you get an experience of our home, the kitchen and the dining. It's a light-filled space. The whole sort of design intent here is to be non-fussy. The materials are all on show, cross-laminate timber ceiling, rough cast concrete, and all these surfaces. We've zoned things, so there's quite a drop between here and the lounge, and then you're presented with the views of the English Channel and the landscape. This little sculpture park we have here, it's an amazing space. The window frames of this home are quite extraordinary, as they're made from paper that has been treated in a revolutionary way. All the doors and windows in this property are made of this paper composite. No screws, no bolts, no welding, no rusty bits, just pure paper. The material comes from skate parks in the States, very resilient and tough outside. You take the bashing and now it's been used architecturally to do doors and windows. The paper is compressed into an extremely durable material. Up to 250 layers of pulped recycled paper are coated in resin and fused together under compression and heat. This solid mass goes through a machine that forms it into the shape of a window frame that won't rot or need any maintenance. It is very exciting, like this is the first paper door and window framing system in the world. Upstairs is the master bedroom and ensuite bathroom with a sauna. There's also a guest suite and a reading room. The deeper you travel into this house, the more its history is revealed. Lincoln designed this corridor to connect the modern house with the old bunker. On first viewing, what the hell's going on? It's a bit of a tunnel to it, it's quite compressed with the ceiling, but then equally there's painting on the wall and block work walls and concrete floor, but there is something in the distance which is a sort of yellowy glow, so that's all presenting the idea of the bunker somewhere in the distance. The bunker space is now where artist Lisa exhibits her work. Here we are in the bunker itself, so in this little time chamber, and it's got the really brutalist walls, you can see all the marks of time, and it's a really still space as well. I like to think of it as the room of requirement, so it can be what we need it to be. At the moment I've got an exhibition in here, so this is a space now that we've created, or we've left and let be created, that will encourage other creatives to come along, so whether it be other artists to have shows or musicians, we've had a theatre troupe here. To have this space as part of our home, I can't quite get my head around it. We are so, so, so lucky to have this space. Lisa and Lincoln have successfully merged the old with the new in their efforts to forge a modern home around the old bunker, and this historic site conceals one more surprise. We found when we acquired the site that we had some quite beautiful but very derelict huts, almost like a glorified garden shed. These army huts were built at the same time as the bunker. They were used as a living space for the soldiers who operated and guarded the early warning radar system. Now fully restored, Lisa and Lincoln used them as their studios. I think you get a feeling that you could still be steeped in history here, and you could time travel a little bit. When I think back to what these little huts were like originally, they were very, very derelict. I have the beautiful view out the window, I have lovely light, I can watch the storms rolling in across the sea, and this is my thinking space as well. I'm so lucky to be able to work from here. It's such a wonderful place to live. It's just staggeringly beautiful actually, and we love it. Lisa and Lincoln have created a beautiful modern home from the ruins of this derelict building, saving it for future generations, and retaining a small piece of this island's legacy.