It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Listing of the Week, our new series in which we highlight a home that’s caught our eye over the past seven days. Now, if there was ever somewhere to push the boundaries of what defines a modern home, it’s this: an 1880s train carriage-turned-contemporary living space in Dungeness, Kent.

As anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting Dungeness can attest, the shingle-strewn peninsula feels rather post-apocalyptic. Often referred to as the UK’s only desert, the otherwordly headland has its own micro-climate and a thriving wildlife scene of species indigenous to the land. We think the setting is fitting, then, for this similarly striking home that had a previous life as a train carriage in the 1880s.

How did such an unusual home come to be? Well, in the 1920s, Southern Railways gave their workers the chance to buy rolling stock and haul it onto the beach – many of whom snapped up the opportunity. If you were to walk across the coastline here back then, for instance, you might find around 30 railway carriages-turned-homes sitting pretty on the shingle.

Over the course of time, the remaining carriages have been carefully extended to create intriguing contemporary homes. The current owner of this particular space is only the second person to live here – and indeed, has gone to tremendous lengths to carefully preserve the original carriage, which forms the heart of the home that stands today. And what a fine heart it is: step into the carriage, now the living area, and you feel as if you’ve been transported back in time. Many of its charming original features remain intact, such as a match strike and painted numerals on the woodwork.

It might take a particular character to consider a life on what can feel like the edge of the earth – after all, to live here is to live in a place quite like no other – but that is precisely the allure. Imagine the thrill of swapping a city skyline or rolling hillsides for eternal views of shingle and sea beyond. And where else might you come across weathered shacks and derelict sailing boats on a lunchtime walk around your neighbourhood?

There’s also a growing community of creatives and architects fleeing to Dungeness, creating fellow contemporary architectural wonders in response to its wilderness and strict planning restrictions. There’s the now-infamous garden of Derek Jarman, Prospect Cottage, as well as Shingle House and Pobble House, for example. Homes here are rarely available, so make like the old railway workers and snap up this opportunity quickly.