The owners of a huge coastal retirement home which shut just last week have already put the site up for sale – with a £3.5 million price tag.

Care firm Abbeyfield Society has confirmed Buckmaster House and grounds on Broadstairs’ Western Esplanade is officially on the market.

Abbeyfield says 14 residents remained when the decision was taken to shut the home, who have now been resettled.

The society took over ownership of the building from the Buckmaster Memorial Home trust, which ran it in 2018.

At the time, the charity’s chair of trustees, Sir Alistair Hunter said: “We have confidence that Abbeyfield will operate it in the same spirit which has won so many admirers over the years, and will preserve the Buckmaster heritage.”

But just five years later the society said the home would have to close because it was no longer a viable operation.

It was a huge setback for campaigners fighting to keep it going who had hoped the property would be handed back and a new charity created to run it.

The home closed on April 30, prompting an emotional social media post from manager Karen Hunt, who called it “an absolute tragedy”.

She claims it was not due to any business failure and the home was “doing extremely well.”

She added: “It had withstood the test of time, surviving through two world wars and managing to evolve over all that time to accommodate the ageing population of its residents for the 130 years that we were an independent charity.

“Yet just five years after ‘acquiring’ us, Abbeyfield has closed the home and are now selling the property.

“The former trustees believed they were doing the right thing by giving us to a bigger national company who they thought would have a future and would continue to value the Buckmaster home as the local treasure and iconic building it has always been.

“It was clearly a ‘fait accompli’ and no matter what we tried to do to stop it happening, it was going to go ahead and we have closed anyway….”

“Despite strong opposition from both myself and the administrator at the time, the decision was that Buckmaster would be given to the Abbeyfield Society. In hindsight, a decision that sealed our fate.

“I would like to thank all of those local people who tried to save us, the petitions that were signed, the local group who were prepared to take us on and form a new charity but were rejected, the staff, our residents and their supportive families .

“It has been a very sad and stressful time for all those involved in the home, especially for our residents who have all had to find new homes, but also for the staff finding new jobs and for me as the manager.

“I felt helpless to stop what was happening. It was clearly a ‘fait accompli’ and no matter what we tried to do to stop it happening, it was going to go ahead and we have closed anyway.”

Abbeyfield says it commissioned an independent review of Buckmaster House which concluded it was not financially viable.

A spokesman added: “Significant investment is required to meet the standards expected by prospective residents and regulators, now and in the future and the costs to carry out this work, even if spread over an extended period, are too great for us to meet.

“Having explored all avenues we cannot see a way of maintaining Buckmaster House as a financially sustainable service that is fit for purpose in the future. This led us to make the difficult decision to close Buckmaster House.

“As a charity, we never want to close a home, however, part of being a responsible organisation is recognising when you need to make a difficult decision, and this was one of those occasions.”

The landmark unlisted property, which was built in 1895 as a convalescence home for women from Brixton, occupies one of the most desirable locations on the Thanet coastline.

It is being marketed by TMS Estate Agents based in Broadstairs which is currently preparing the sale details and confirmed the sale price of £3.5 million.

But many residents are already speculating on social media that it will be converted into flats or even demolished to make way for new builds.