The fate of an iconic building entrusted to its community appears to be in the balance as its trustees try to secure its future.

Cliff House, in Salcombe, not only houses the town’s yacht club, but also its town council and library, as well as being a spellbinding setting for events such as weddings.

The Cliff House Trust, which oversees the property, was founded in 1921 by Captain Andrew McIlwraith, with the intention of providing a permanent home for Salcombe Yacht Club and to offer community facilities to Salcombe’s residents, according to the House’s website.

The yacht club has a lease there until 2073, but there will now be uncertainty beyond 2027, at which point the trust has suggested it may need to sell or transfer the building.

The potential sale comes as another property row rumbles on in the town over Woodcot, which might be getting sold by Age UK.

Andy Savell, chair of the Cliff House Trust, said that publicity for Cliff House’s plight is vital, because the organisation wants to ensure the treasured property can remain accessible for the community.

In a report prepared for the trust’s forthcoming annual general meeting this month, concerns about the roof, which “without complete renewal will require frequent attention” were raised, while other issues outlined include “movement of the retaining walls above Cliff Road, and the continuing deterioration of the tower and those parts of the facade above the first floor which can’t be reached by scaffolding”.

The trust’s finances remain “of concern”, Mr Savell’s chairman report will say, noting that cashflow is “only just keeping up with day-to-day expenses”.

“Rental income is, and has been since the trust’s inception, insufficient, and without the endowments sold off many years ago the trust is dependent on income from weddings and bar income to stay solvent,” the statement adds.

“We have no reserves to pay for the accumulating dilapidations, now estimated at up to £1m.”

Mr Savell said the voluntary trustees “don’t want the trust to fail and we want to preserve the building as a community resource”.

In Salcombe Town Council minutes, it outlines that a trustee reiterated the willingness to save Cliff House, noting that “multiple options had been explored to secure and maintain the building”.

Mr Savell stressed that any wedding bookings would be honoured, and that the service offered to guests would not be impacted by the uncertainty over the property’s ownership and the trust’s status.

The larger, long-term issue appears to be with the structure of the building, which is described as “sandstone and lacking foundations”.

The uncertainty will be a blow to the community, but outlines the intense struggle charitable trusts have in maintaining assets like Cliff House.

McIlwraith gave the trust a number of local houses to ensure a steady rental income but over the years those have been sold, and an attempt to sell Cliff House Woods led to “outrage in the town” and a Friends of Cliff House Woods was formed to own and maintain the woods.