This property started life as a bog standard bungalow and now it’s a remarkable Grand Design

“Plus, the views from the rear of the house are fantastic. You can see right over to Emley Moor and over the tops towards Manchester on a clear day,” she says.

With her elderly horses settled and happy, thoughts turned to updating and extending the mid-century property.

She, her husband Darren and their two sons loved the location but extra space and a family friendly layout were badly needed.

The Woodcocks sought advice from Martin Bell, MD of Ossett based Transform Architects.

and what he came up with blew their minds.

“They wanted an extension to get more living space and more bedrooms and they also wanted a usable garden.

“The garden at the back of the property was pretty useless because it was on a very steep slope,” says Martin.

“The other issue was that the house had amazing views from the rear but it only had one bay window at the back that you could really see them from.”

Instead of trying to alter the original property, Martin suggested that the best and easiest solution would be to demolish it and start afresh.

He says: “We could’ve extended it and changed the original bungalow but it would never have been 100 per cent perfect.”

After getting a quantity surveyor to price the approximate cost of a rebuild, the Woodcocks agreed and embraced the chance to have a home that suited all their needs, along with indulging in some life enhancing extras, which included a swimming pool and a home bar.

“Darren had always wanted a home bar but we hadn’t thought about a pool until Martin suggested it,” says Maxine. “He took us to see a pool that was installed for another client and we decided to go ahead.”

Plans were drawn and Barnsley Council passed them without issue thanks to the design by Transform Architects. Barnsley-based builders Moore and Waller did a sterling job on the construction.

From the front, the new property fits in with its neighbours and still appears to be a single storey bungalow, albeit a contemporary looking one.

From the rear, the change is dramatic thanks to cutting into the sloping garden to create a lower ground floor and adding a first floor utilising the roof space and a contemporary dormer.

“The dormer is relatively light and that’s important because you have to bear in mind the loading on the existing foundations,” says Martin.

The property now has a ground floor with two ensuite bedrooms, a snug/cinema room, home office, an open plan kitchen/dining/sitting room, and a utility room plus access to a new outside deck at the rear, which makes the most of those views.

The first floor has two ensuite bedrooms and a large dressing room. The basement floor is the leisure level with a home bar, gym, toilet, changing room, steam room, sauna and a swimming pool.

The building is constructed from breeze block with a white silicone render and the boundary walls are in natural stone Aluminium cladding was also used, along with aluminium windows, doors and gutters.

The roof, installed by the Zinc and Copper Roofing Company, is a Colorcoat Urban metal deck, which comes with a 25-year guarantee.

“The beauty of the roof is that it’s maintenance free, unlike a mainstream roof that is tiled,” says Maxine. “It’s also pretty substantial and that is important because we are high up here and it can get very windy.”

The property also features Gloria silver stone cladding, limestone cladding, Natura Pro grey facade cladding on the dormer and cedar cladding to the underside of the soffit in the basement.

Outside, the rear garden has been created in the style of a Mediterranean courtyard and the Woodcocks have also planted an orchard.

“The garden was completely bulldozed and we started from scratch. It takes 20 to 30 years for trees to grow so we bought established plants from Palmers in Calverley,” says Maxine.

Martin adds: “This was always about enhancing quality of life and creating the dream house and happy memories.”

The Woodcocks are thrilled with the result and have turned the new house into a home thanks to some help from Pinterest.

The interiors are painted mostly in white for now with the snug is in Farrow & Ball’s dark grey Downpipe.

The kitchen is from Inspired Designs in Morley, the dining table is from Redbrick Mill in Batley and the light above is from Holloways of Ludlow.

Maxine also added a stretch ceiling above the pool, which is in fabric that looks like a blue sky.

“We enjoy swimming and the pool has a resistance element so you can swim against a current, which is good exercise and therapeutic for me due to injuries I have from a riding accident,” she says.

The basement pub is a favourite for family get-togethers and features vintage pub memorabilia, along with a backrest upholstered by Lucianne Designs, who also made all the headboards for the bedrooms.

The ultimate conclusion is summed up in a sentence by Maxine: “We couldn’t be happier with this house. It has got everything we need and more.”

Useful contacts: Transform Architects, www.transformarchitects.com, www.mooreandwaller.co.uk, www.zincandcopperroofing.com, Inspired Kitchens, www.inspireddesignkitchens.com, www.lucianne.co.uk