Window of John Fowles says landmark home has become a dump It is awful to watch the deterioration. I pass it every day. It is terribly sad and sad for Lyme, it was a beautiful house. The Landmark Trust purchased the property in 2007, two years after the novelist's death, aged 79, and hopes to convert it into self-catering holiday lets, for which it has planning permission. It has applied for a £1.3 million Lottery grant but said more money would be needed to transform it. Katherine Oakes, a spokesperson for the trust, said they had been carrying out extensive research over the last five years but that "urgent" restoration work was needed. "We are removing remnant parts of a Victorian extension which were largely removed in the 60s," she said. What now remains severely compromises the importance of the seaside villa. This has been through the planning process and given approval. The restoration and subsequent reuse as a place to stay will celebrate his (the author's) life and achievements. Local historian Ken Gallop warned that visitors would not see the house as Fowles knew it. "It's going to rack and ruin," he said. The house overlooks the famous Cobb in Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep, who starred in the classic 1981 film adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman, was memorably pictured.