Auctioneers hope a buyer can be found for this 18 bedroom seaside hotel going under the hammer for £550,000 after it failed to sell on the open market for £900,000 last summer.

Eastern Daily Press: The Overstrand Court hotel is up for auction. Pic: Auction House.The Overstrand Court hotel is up for auction. Pic: Auction House.

The Overstrand Court hotel, owned by the same family for many years, went up for sale with a different agent last August but after it didn't sell, is now being auctioned.

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Standing on a 1.5 acre wooded plot the house, which is Arts and Crafts in style hails from the era when people would convalesce by the sea, enjoying the fresh air. The property, being auctioned on April 10, became a hotel in the 1950s.

Auctioneer Bryan Baxter, from Auction House, described it as 'arranged over three floors with some 18 bedrooms in total and an array of ground floor rooms to include a reception, bar, dining and sitting rooms with the principal of these taking advantage of views over the south facing rear garden. 'The property still retains much of its original charm, character and period features but requires a significant programme of modernisation and improvement to restore it to its former glory.'

Eastern Daily Press: Table tennis on the lawn and breathing in fresh air; the Overstrand Court hote depicted in a painting in its heyday.Pic: Archant.Table tennis on the lawn and breathing in fresh air; the Overstrand Court hote depicted in a painting in its heyday.Pic: Archant.

The owners, brothers Mark and James Northway grew up in the property, built in 1903, after their father bought it in the early 1970s.

They really want it to be restored.

Situated close to the beach, it is believed to have been used as a convalescent home, gentlemen's 'finishing school' before being requisitioned for army use in the second world war.

Eastern Daily Press: Inside the Overstrand Court hotel, once grand but now up for auction. Pic: Auction House.Inside the Overstrand Court hotel, once grand but now up for auction. Pic: Auction House.

Eastern Daily Press: Once a grand hotel near the sea but now the Overstrand Court hotel looks rather forlorn and is up for auction. Pic: Auction House.Once a grand hotel near the sea but now the Overstrand Court hotel looks rather forlorn and is up for auction. Pic: Auction House.

Eastern Daily Press: Bryan Baxter, Auction House. Pic: Archant.Bryan Baxter, Auction House. Pic: Archant.