Mrs Cluck Cluck has a new coop

The only thing missing is a cottage with roses round the door and that's because a contemporary 21st century equivalent has taken its place.

With its white render, enormous expanses of glass and crisp, minimal interior, the McAndrews' home near Aberford, Leeds, looks like the sort where shoes are banned and mud is feared.

In fact the opposite is true. It feels incredibly homely and is designed to be perfectly practical for its outdoorsy owners. There are no skirting boards to dust and the ground floor is covered in wipe-clean porcelain flooring.

The house also has a central vacuuming system.

"I don't like cleaning, so I made sure this house was easy to look after, says Jane, who has horses, a couple of dogs and a hen addiction.

"I don't even have curtains because they get dusty."

She got her first four hens as a birthday present 15 years ago and, as well as free range layers, she has saved a number of former battery hens from the chop.

She's become an expert on chickens and after becoming alarmed at the number of amateurs who clearly don't a have a clue, she set up a business to teach them how.

Under her working name Mrs Cluck Cluck, she offers courses and starter packages from 235 including a good hen house, chickens, feed and a lesson in how to look after them. Her favourite hens are Rusty and Tuesday, former battery birds, who often pop into the house to see her.

It's very different from Jane's previous home, a period farmhouse a couple of fields away. A friend gave them the chance to buy this plot, which housed three ramshackle cottages. "They were past renovating, which meant we were able to come up with our own design. We wanted something to reflect the 21st century rather than a pseudo Georgian or Tudor place," says Jane.

Their own ideas were translated into a design by architect Gary Lupton and, after a year of haggling, they finally got planning permission.

"We lived in a caravan on site for a year while the build went ahead and we were really lucky in finding fantastic builders. Everything went smoothly thanks to Dave and Joe," says Jane.

The house is a German-style construction with a single skin of breezeblock clad with a Sto polystyrene blocks and render.

The glazing is triple-glazed, self-cleaning glass. They were keen to be as green as possible: Viessmann solar panels heat the hot water and an air source heat pump warms the house which also has underfloor heating. The McAndrews have arranged

the space to suit their needs with a large open-plan living space and cloakroom downstairs, with three bedroom and bathrooms upstairs. There is also an attached two-bedroom annexe.

The home is full of light and lovely views including one from the bath. The long slit window is eye level with the top of an old bay tree and Jane likes looking at the birds while she's soaking.

It's also warm on the coldest day. Their green heat and high levels of insulation make it cosy, as does the fireplace they had built in the middle of the living area. "We had oil heating in the last house, which was very expensive. Our heating bills have been halved since moving in here," says Neil, a commercial property developer. The property is furnished from Robert Mason in Leeds and the lighting is by Du Luce. "We brought almost nothing with us from our old home.

"It was very cathartic getting rid of most of our belongings and it felt like a great big weight had been lifted," says Jane, whose garden was designed by Marco Schrang and features reflection pools.

Everything from the build to the furnishings and landscaping cost 600,000 and the McAndrews feel it is worth every penny.

Jane says: "It's absolutely wonderful. I love the pools as they make it feel like the house is floating and Marco used the same porcelain tiles outside as we have indoors for the patio. When you open the doors it feels like part of the house, like you're sitting in a field."