IT has taken eight years and £1.8 million to restore author John Fowles’ former home in Lyme Regis.

The Landmark Trust bought the building in 2007 and began years of detailed research,fundraising and restoration work to bring the Grade II* listed 18th-century seaside villa back into use.

The public can see the results of all that work for themselves at a weekend of free public open days on Saturday and Sunday September 26 and 27, from 10am until 4pm.

Like the Landmark Trust’s other 195 buildings, Belmont will be let for short breaks – it is already booked for the whole of 2016.

For nearly 40 years Belmont was owned by pioneering 18th-century businesswoman, Eleanor Coade (1733-1821).

She built up a successful artificial stone business in the ‘man’s world’ of the Georgian era. Coade-stone was used upon many Regency buildings across Britain and beyond that still exist today like the Royal Naval College in Greenwich and Buckingham Palace. Her business earned the respect of great architects of the day such as Robert Adam and John Nash.

Dr Anna Keay, director of the Landmark Trust, said: “We are enormously proud of having completed this ambitious restoration project, particularly in our 50th anniversary year.

“The rejuvenated building is once again a fitting monument to the genius of Eleanor Coade. Visitors will now be able to stay in her Georgian architectural gem and in so doing experience the beauty and peace that inspired one of our greatest modern writers, John Fowles.”

Though his widow condemned the trust’s plans for the buildings when it launched it fund-raising appeal in 2012.

She accused the charity of hypocrisy and blamed the trust’s for the poor state of the building. She said then: “They are destroying most of the house that John lived in.

“They are raising an appeal on his name but they pulling down the main part of the house he lived in.

“I think it is hypocrisy.”

When the Landmark Trust took over the building in 2007 Mrs Fowles was happy they were going to do something with it.

But she said as soon as she moved out in 2007 the Landmark Trust gutted the building and left it empty for five years.

John Fowles lived in Belmont for almost four decades. Much of his work was written there , including The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Fowles wanted Belmont to be used as an educational establishment, particularly for writers.

Landmark plans to make the building available to all for self-catering holidays, and there will be a large collection of books reflecting Fowles’ work and his interests for guests.

Creative writing students will also be invited for annual study weeks.

There is a permanent exhibition in the adjacent former stables and it will be open 2pm to 5pm each Friday from April 1 to 31 October 31, starting on October 9 this year.

It offers a window into the lives of Mrs Coade and Fowles, as well as Dr Richard Bangay (1834-1933), a lesser-known individual who lived at Belmont in the Victorian era.

His story has been unearthed for the first time. Self-taught and from a poor background, Dr Bangay was a keen astronomer and he built the observatory tower in the garden. This is a very rare survival of a working amateur Victorian astronomer’s observatory, now newly restored. One of the interesting finds discovered during the restoration was Bangay’s signature on one of the timbers, dated 1881.

Carole Paton, one of Landmark’s building surveyors, project-managed the work.

She said: “Restoration projects are always absorbing, but Belmont has been entirely consuming for everyone involved. We used evidence from the original building to restore Belmont to its appearance and layout in Eleanor Coade’s time.

“Major highlights were finding a signature on one of the keystones and the date of 1782 in one of the urn lids. The quality and detail of the Coade stone that survives from this era is astounding and to think that Eleanor may have been personally involved in its creation feels very special.”

Thanks to paint analysis, the façade today is a striking pink to match the shade Mrs Coade would have known. The fireplace and all the delicate decoration in the sitting room, formerly Fowles’ writing room, are original, after ornate cornices clogged with two centuries of paint were cleaned to reveal their astonishing detail. The beautiful west window and Mrs Coade’s parlour have also been reinstated. Outside, the gate posts are back in their original location with reproduction Coade stone gate caps.

Using such original details Landmark’s craftspeople have recreated any damaged or missing items at their studio in the Cotswolds, such as fireplaces, architraves, shutters and skirting boards. Prince’s Foundation apprentices have contributed to the project, including one sponsored by Landmark, who worked alongside experienced craftsmen to carry out joinery work and conservation repairs on the west wall.

John Evetts, Landmarks’ furnishings expert has overseen the presentation and furnishings at Belmont, which falls in a favourite period for him. The colours, fabrics and furniture uniquely evoke Belmont’s history and the lives lived within it.

1. Belmont was built around 1780 and is a fine surviving example of the type of seaside villa that emerged during the second half of the 18th century at a time of social and cultural change, when sea bathing, sea views and informal homes away from cities grew in popularity.

2. Belmont costs from £640 for four nights and sleeps up to eight people in two double and two single bedrooms.

3. Belmont will open for public open days on Saturday and Sunday the 26th and 27th September, from 10am until 4pm. Visitors are welcome to look around the restored house and garden. In 2016 there will be open days on 13th and 14th February, 10th and 11th September and