The restoration of Becca Hall as a family home is now complete thanks to perserverance plus great design and a famous artist

She says: “I knew university wasn’t for me so I went to secretarial college and got a job at IPC magazines, where I did some modelling for My Guy and decided I’d like to work in fashion.”

She applied for a job with fashion designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, not thinking she’d get it. She did and was later asked if she fancied being a design assistant for them, she was thrilled, only to be devastated when she overheard a meeting where it was decided she didn’t have the right look.

She left and thought she’d go into politics and be an MP, following in the footsteps of her father and her grandmother Patricia Ford. It was not to be and it was only when she got a job as a secretary at a PR agency that her true calling was revealed.

The owner told her she was the worst secretary they’d ever had but as the clients loved her, would she fancy being an account executive?

“I loved it and that led me to start my own PR company,” says Lara. “I’ve learned over the years to play to my strengths and leave the important admin side to really talented people who are good at it.

“I love meeting people and thinking up opportunities but I can’t switch off from the next idea and that’s probably the ADHD at work.”

Her personality traits have also helped on the domestic front. When her husband James declared that he would like to buy Becca Hall, near Leeds, she cheerfully agreed even though most people would’ve threatened divorce at the thought of trying to turn the sad, bastardised and abandoned building back into a family home at great expense.

The Georgian house with Victorian additions had been James’ great grandfather’s much-loved home but he had to sell to pay death duties and the property was acquired by the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1958.

As it was state owned, planning rules did not apply and a ugly Brutalist extension was added that was four times bigger than the original property and included control centres, bunkers and a tower.

It was heartbreaking for the Fawcett family, who retained the surrounding land, and James grew up dreaming about buying the property back and fate was on his side.

After being declared obsolete, it ended up in the hands of the receivers with a cut price Lara and James jumped at.

Many of the period features on the ground floor survived as the rooms had been used for conferences but upstairs had been badly converted to work space.

The Yorkshire Post has documented the initial work Lara and James did but to recap, they demolished the extension at great expense but recouped the cost via the scrap value, which helped towards reinstating the chimneys and Georgian-style windows.

Turning the property back into a family home for them and their now grown-up children, Mungo, Bevan and Tallulah has taken longer.

We featured the first incarnation, which took five years, and have returned to see the hall now that the place is completely finished with many more “bells and whistles” added, including some truly incredible art work by the artist Andre Durand.

Durand, now 83, was a famous name in the 1980s but he left London to live on the continent, where he continued his own work while taking on portraiture.

Lara discovered him via her godmother and agreed to take the many paintings he had in storage in London to sell to help fund the remainder of his life in Italy.

The paintings are spectacular and, along with choosing her favourites for her house, she is hoping to organise a selling exhibition in Britain, while inviting interior designers to Becca Hall to choose from the work. “It would look wonderful in a hotel,” she says.

Elsewhere, the use of some of the rooms have been altered so James’ office, which caught the noise from the kitchen, was turned into an informal dining room and his work space is now in a quieter spot.

Another room that held a snooker table was designated as a “party room” and the upper floors now house ten bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

The decor includes Lara’ flamboyant decor choices and contemporary elements bought from clients including Pooky, Garden Trading and Sofa.com.

The traditional elements from antique fairs and auctions are James’ finds and preference.

The couple also got professional help from Yorkshire based Ness Interiors who were a great help with paint and fabric choices.

The enormous kitchen is the relaxed heart of the house and the sign stating “Many have eaten here, few have died,” reveals a great sense of fun.

In contrast, the formal dining room is more muted. “It was hard because I really wanted to get it right because this house means so much to James, " says Lara.

The most surprising room is the smallest. Lara became a Catholic last year and has created her own chapel furnished with an altar she is looking after for a friend who is a priest.

Quite how she got it through the door is nothing short of a miracle but she laughs and says: “God got it through.”

Contact [email protected] for more interest in buying Andre Durand’s work.