Once upon a time, a farmer stored hay in his barn, a miller produced flour in his mill, a factory worker slaved in an industrial warehouse and they all went to church on a Sunday. Many of these buildings would lie empty were it not for a modern passion for residential renovation projects.

From a converted windmill to a Cold War relic in North London, these buildings have been turned into contemporary modern homes. Seafield House in Mill Hill, which is currently for sale for £6.75million, is a Grade II-listed six bedroom house made from the shell of a nuclear bunker.

The lowly origins of many converted buildings do not diminish their desirability: earlier this year, Robbie Williams purchased Compton Bassett House, near Calne in Wiltshire, for around £8.5 million. But the original manor house, built in 1674, was pulled down in 1929, so Williams’ new home is in fact the former stable block.

Most buyers of converted buildings, unless they are appearing in a Channel 4 reality TV show, like the actual converting to be done by someone else, so they can move in to a home with all the cachet of a historic property and the sleekness and convenience of a newbuild. One such example is Harebeating Mill. Today this property is a Grade II listed, three-bedroom house on the outskirts of Hailsham, East Sussex, for sale for £545,000. But when it was built in 1779 it was a windmill situated behind the Methodist church in central Hailsham.

The mill ground flour until the 1920s, surviving a move to its present location in 1823 after Hailsham became so built up that the mill wasn’t getting enough wind to function properly. A storm in 1926 blew the sails away, after which point it became derelict. Gary Neal, the present owner, said: “It was a ruin in the garden of Mill House next door for years until they sold it to a developer in 2003. He renovated it and created the property you now see.” Neal, 57, and his wife Sally, 54, both retired bank workers, bought Harebeating Mill two years ago and added some “cosmetic touches”, such as a hot tub in the garden. They now wish to move nearer to their children in Hove.

The house is arranged around a central tower, the base of which is the only remaining part of the windmill (alongside the original dated mill post) which is now in the garden. This, like many parts of the house, has exposed green-oak beams in the ceiling.

The rest of the house is modern and smart. A sitting room at the top of the tower has floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Pevensey Levels, the observatory at Hurstmonceux, and another windmill at Windmill Hill. “The first night we moved in, we saw shooting stars, because there is no light pollution here,” Neal said.

Strutt & Parker, 01273 475411

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers