For more than 40 years he has helped return some of Britain’s most extraordinary buildings to their former glory and is celebrated for his sensitivity and attention to detail.
But a key adviser to the restoration charity the Landmark Trust has been convicted of breaching planning laws by carrying out unauthorised work on his own property, an 18th-century farmhouse in the Cotswolds.
John Evetts, 72, bought the Grade II-listed house, which has five bedrooms, as a personal restoration project for £1.5m, Winchester crown court heard.
While living in the attic of the farmhouse in the village of Saintbury, near Chipping Campden, he “jumped the gun” and carried out work before it had been approved, installing internal double doors said to be “unheard of” for that type of house and removing an old stone boundary wall.
Christian Hawley, prosecuting, told the court the doors “affected the symmetry” of the house and were also not of “the appropriate character”.
Hawley said: “The defendant is well experienced with dealing with heritage buildings. In his interview, he made clear that he knew the listed building statutory framework.
“The defendant’s position is that in his view, because all of the work he was undertaking did not affect specific historical and architectural qualities of the building, no permission was required.”
Evetts’ barrister, Jack Smyth, said his client was “passionate” about restoration but was frustrated at how long the planning process was taking. “He jumped the gun,” he said. “There had also been an element of antipathy that had developed between my client and the [planning] officers.”
A biography of Evetts says he has “shaped the presentation of Landmark’s buildings for more than 40 years”. In 1981 he worked on an apartment overlooking the Spanish Steps in Rome, sourcing all the furniture from markets around the city and using an ice-cream bicycle to transport the purchases. He is said to have been most proud of the restoration of The Grange, Augustus Pugin’s former family home in Ramsgate.
Evetts, who was a longtime chair of a Gloucestershire council’s planning committee, admitted carrying out unlawful works on the property.
Sentencing him, Recorder Don Tait said: “You knew that you should not be embarking upon this work until you received the relevant consent but you carried on with it anyway.
“You are a man of exemplary character. You have dedicated your life to listed building restoration. You knew that you should not have been undertaking this work.”
Tait imposed a 12-month conditional discharge. He also ordered Evetts to pay £6,000 in prosecution costs. Evetts has already reinstated the wall and doors.
