How a conversation with Kevin McCloud created this elegant and sustainable home for sale in North Yorkshire
The Lime House looks like it's been part of the scenery for centuries, but is in fact a modern home with timeless English Country House style.
Inspired by a conversation on sustainable building materials with the designer and presenter Kevin McCloud, Jonathan and Sara Banister built a house made from straw bales and lime plaster on the site of a 1960s bungalow in North Yorkshire. Taking nearly two years to complete, the project was finished in 2018 and features in the revised edition of The Buildings of England: Yorkshire.
Straw-bale construction results in super-insulated, highly sustainable and breathable buildings and this structure features stonework crafted by a York Minster mason and handmade bricks. The four-bedroom house, which is set in 4.5 acres, is now on the market through Savills for £2.75m.
The Lime House, which is set in an H-plan over 2.5 floors (there is a mezzanine), is a home designed for entertaining. The heart of the home is a large kitchen/dining/living room that is attached to the entrance hall, while a barn to the rear of the property is adjoined by a studio, providing further space for fun, games or work.
What is so impressive about the Lime House is how it looks like it’s always been there. Inside, a stone staircase is paired with a vast stone fireplace in the entrance hall, while wooden panelling covers the walls and the ceiling. Throughout, the fixtures and fittings are of a period farmhouse style, and it is quite clear that plenty of reclaimed materials have been used throughout.
But while on the surface the house looks old, it is of course very new. The property embraces modern technology throughout, such as a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system, triple glazing, underfloor heating, a rainwater harvesting system, solar panels, and PIR lighting. It looks like the old vicarage, but without the bills.
Outside, the property benefits from 4.5 acres of gardens and grounds, including a new natural pond fed by rainwater collected from the house that supports a wide variety of wildlife. The gardens close to the house are formal, before blending into the rolling countryside that surrounds the property, and a small courtyard overlooking a ha-ha makes a fine place for al fresco dining and hosting.
