Kit Martin

Kit Martin CBE (born 6 May 1947)[1] is a British architectural designer and country house property developer. He is the son of Sir Leslie Martin, Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge.

Since the 1970s, Kit Martin has specialised in the saving and restoration of country houses, by dividing them into smaller dwellings and apartments. He is an advisor to the Prince of Wales on the safeguarding of major historic buildings and remains an advisor to The Prince's Regeneration Trust[2] (previously being a director of The Phoenix Trust), a trustee of Save Europe's Heritage,[3] and a former member of the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland (now the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland).

Martin has restored and converted around twelve houses, eight in England and four in Scotland, as well as other types of historic building.[4] He has used the company name Kit Martin (Historic Houses Rescue) Limited since 1974, and Historic Houses Rescue Limited from 1996. From 2004 to 2007 Martin was an advisor to Save Britain's Heritage on the proposed purchase of Dumfries House in Scotland. At his home, Gunton Park, Martin also restored the historic designed landscape, winning the Country Life Genius of the Place Award for 2007.[5]

Martin was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to conservation.[6]

  1. ^ "Birthdays", The Guardian, p. 27, 6 May 2014
  2. ^ Lonsdale, Sarah (26 November 2005). "Bought back to life". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  3. ^ SAVE Europe's Heritage. Retrieved 10 December 2007 Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Kit Martin, rescuer of historic buildings". Country Life. 30 January 1997. pp. 48–49.
  5. ^ Musson, Jeremy (14 June 2007). "The Genius is Gunton Park". Country Life. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  6. ^ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 7.