Architects have gained permission to transform a secret home which was built without planning permission disguised as a cowshed. Ashbourne-based Matthew Montague Architects has been granted planning to re-model and renovate Shedley Manor in the Peak District into a luxury family home.
Work on the six-bedroom house – complete with a sweeping driveway and countryside views on the edge of Yeaveley, near Ashbourne – is expected to start later this year, and will include a new entrance, porch and a double storey bay window at the front.
It will also see the removal of green metal cladding which was added to make it look like a cow shed, in order to get round planning rules. Council planners finally realised the deception in 2016.
Shedley Manor was the tongue-in-cheek name given to the property by its owner, fraudulent businessman Alan Yeomans, who was sentenced to jail in 2016, aged 63, for offences including money laundering and cultivation of cannabis. He had it built at the end of his mother’s garden, away from the prying eyes of neighbours and Derbyshire Dales District Council planners in 2002.
It was only when his dodgy business dealings came to light that Shedley Manor was discovered, with the story hitting the national headlines.
The home, along with Rolex watches and valuable works of art and antiques, was seized and sold at auction.
Matthew Montague Architects initially secured planning for the property to be knocked down and replaced. However, although the building was renamed Carr Wood House, the plans were never realised.
Instead, it was sold to new owners last year who have decided to embrace its past and change the name back to Shedley Manor while instructing the firm to draw up plans to convert it into a more liveable and attractive property.
Matthew Montague, principal architect at Matthew Montague Architects, said: “Shedley Manor has one of the most colourful and unique histories of any home in Derbyshire and we’re delighted to be able to give it a new lease of life with the full approval of the council, of course.
“The fact that it had to double as a farm shed means that it has a few unusual features, including a hidden entrance and lack of windows down one wall, which our plans will rectify to give it the appearance of a house at long last.
“If every building tells a story, then Shedley Manor is a whole book-full of stories, and we’re looking forward to opening a new chapter. We’re very proud of our plans for this most unusual of properties and we have no doubt that it will become a much-loved family home.”
Established 25 years ago, Matthew Montague Architects has designed some of Derbyshire’s best-known buildings, including Lonsdale House and the dining room at Repton Preparatory School.
