Nestling on the rising ground above the English Channel, it looks down on the flat expanse of Romney Marsh, which some local voters affectionately call "the sixth continent".
The fact that the woods behind the house still contain a serious, round-the-clock police presence is a reminder that, in his time, the former Conservative home secretary made some dangerous terrorist enemies.
But as election day looms the more urgent question is: has Mr Howard made enough enemies among Folkestone voters for the seat to fall to Lib-Lab tactical voting ?
In 1997 the seat featured in a famous £80,000 exercise conducted by Peter Kellner and ICM for the Observer: 16 seats with tactical anti-Tory possibilities were analysed and advice offered. It worked spectacularly in Enfield Southgate, where Michael Portillo's wholly unexpected defeat was the biggest single upset of the night.
It did not work in Folkestone.
In 1992 Mr Howard had taken 52.3% of the vote against 35.3% for the Liberal Democrats and 12.1% for Labour, not far adrift from the 57:32:10 shares the three had when he inherited the seat in 1983.
On the night of May 1 1997, when Tory seats all along the south coast were falling to the Blair-Ashdown tide (nearby Dover, Hastings & Rye, Hove, even Torbay), Mr Howard's majority fell from 8,910 to 6,332, from 17% to 12.2%. If ever a seat was going to fall, surely, the moment must have passed that night?
But hope springs eternal as June 7 2001 approaches. This weekend both Peter Carroll, the new Liberal Democrat candidate, and Labour's even newer hopeful, Albert Catterall, have been out canvassing hard. Why?
"The difference between this time and last time was that then the anti-Conservative vote was split three ways because there was also a Referendum party candidate," explains the Lib Dem agent, Shaun Roberts. "This time it will come to us."
A familiar Lib Dem tale, but far from impossible. In 1997 Labour's big push failed to take second place, but got to within 1,042 votes of the Lib Dem, 24.9% of the poll compared with 26.9%. The late John Aspinall took 8% on behalf of his old gambling friend, Jimmy Goldsmith; the UKIP got 0.7%. It left Mr Howard on a very takeable 39% if the constituency's voters decide to gang up against him. Unlike 1997, when people voted "blind" on new boundaries, the route is clear. "I never take the constituency for granted," says Mr Howard whenever he is asked. "There may be a UKIP candidate, but I hope the Referendum party votes will come back and that we get a fair number of votes from the other parties too."
Along with the parlous state of local hospitals, he cites Europe and the asylum issue as important to East Kent. Mr Howard is a convincing tough guy on both. "My constituency is on the sharp end," he notes.
Literally so in the case of the Channel tunnel. There are about 600 asylum seekers in Folkestone, but things are calmer than two years ago.
Though a keen pro-European in 1983 the MP is no enthusiast for the euro. And though his father, a Romanian Jew, fled to the safety of Wales, Mr Howard distinguishes between real and unjustified asylum applications.
"When I was home secretary we changed the law and cut the number of asylum seekers by 40%. Labour failed to close a loophole, sent out the wrong signals, and the 'magnet' problem has flared again.
"It is a perfectly straight-forward proposition in theory: everyone agrees that we have to have a proper system of immigration control on this small and crowded island." Crisp and diamond-hard, like the successful planning QC that Mr Howard is. But one assessment he shares with Albert Catterall is that "Labour is not fielding a paper candidate" to help out the Lib Dems.
No paper candidate
There are pockets of poverty in East Folkestone and on the marsh. "The core Labour vote won't shift," says first-time candidate Mr Catterall, and there is no pact. No wonder Mr Howard is keen to agree. If they are right, he is safe.
But in the past year the Lib Dems have won two council byelection contests, one each from their rivals. In Mr Carroll, 40, ex-RAF, ex-research scientist, they have an eager novice who recently sold the family transport business to concentrate on politics.
"There's a large amount of disappointment that Labour people are showing on the doorstep: 'We voted for Tony Blair, but it just didn't happen.' We're pulling them across along, with Tory voters who are backing us at local level. I tell people 'I'm not a professional politician, I'm one of you, having a go'," he says.
From the outside the tactical choice looks obvious. Labour voters have to be angry enough with Mr Howard or Mr Hague to vote Lib Dem. On the street there is little evidence of such tactical calculations - at this stage in the campaign.
At 73 and 71, John and Linda Wilson have a distinctive perspective. Married for 48 years and looking very well on it, they quarrel effortlessly over politics. "Tony Blair? I love him, a man of vision," says Labour Linda. "He's all waffle," says Tory John. On June 7, John and Linda will cancel each other's vote out at St Mary's Bay on Romney Marsh. From his window Mr Howard may even see them doing it, if the weather is clear and he uses binoculars. Mr Carroll and Mr Catterall may do the same.
At the Folkestone Herald (circulation 13,000), editor Lesley Finlay predicts: "It will be close, but I think Michael Howard will edge it." She is probably right.
