A FUNDRAISING appeal is under way to help restore the Ramsgate home of Victorian architect Augustus Welby Pugin.

Pugin, a Gothic revivalist, designed The Grange on the West Cliff for his own family and it is where he produced his drawings for the interiors of the Houses of Parliament.

The Landmark Trust, the building preservation charity, saved the building from being sold for redevelopment but need money "to halt its continued decay and vandalism". A Trust spokeswoman said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded our project £1.1 million but we now need to secure matching funding to enable work to start.

“The Grange is one of the most important and influential examples of 19th Century English domestic architecture. When the restoration is complete, and in order to secure its future, it will be let for holidays.”

The Landmark Trust: telephone 01628 825920; website: www.landmarktrust.co.uk