Historic landmark begins new chapter as centrepiece of £7.4m luxury development
It has served as a country residence, a wartime hospital and, more recently, commercial headquarters, but now a Grade II listed landmark begins a new chapter as the centrepiece of a luxury residential development.
Woodlands Lodge, originally part of the 19th-century Scarcroft Lodge estate, has stood as a familiar feature in this part of north Leeds for almost two centuries.
Built in the 1830s as the country residence of Quaker businessman Newman Cash, the stone building has witnessed the area’s evolution from rural estate to one of the city’s most sought-after residential locations.
Former owners of the wider estate include the Earl of Mexborough and Albert Braithwaite, a past Mayor of Leeds who added the bowling green and cricket ground and after whom one of the new houses is named.
The estate later served as a WWII hospital for servicemen and, post-war, as headquarters of the Yorkshire Electricity Board. Periods of vacancy and decline in recent years left Woodlands Lodge in visible disrepair, but restoration work has returned it to active use while retaining its historic character.
The building now forms the centrepiece of The Woodlands, a £7.4m residential scheme planned for handover in November.
The project is the first for Ducale Developments, founded by Ian Plunkett, a former senior partner at PwC, and David Flannery, managing director of ACS Stainless.
The pair have been friends for more than 25 years and both have previously built their own homes and share what Ian describes as a consistent passion for the built environment and residential property.
"We’ve both got a love of creating homes for ourselves,” says Ian. “We also have the combined networks and experience that have enabled us to build really effective teams that are needed to support us on the Woodlands project as well as on subsequent projects.”
Ian says they bought Woodlands Lodge in an off-market deal in 2024 through industry contacts and it quickly became the catalyst for launching the business.
The partners revised an existing planning consent, reducing the number of apartments in the lodge to create larger homes and adding two houses designed to complement the listed building.
He says: "We set out to create something genuinely special at The Woodlands - properties that honour the site's heritage while delivering the quality and finish that discerning buyers of luxury residences rightly expect.
"The early response from the market has validated that there was a real gap for this type of development in this location.”
Ducale bought the Woodlands site from Audley Group, which recently completed work on a retirement village centred around the restored Grade II-listed Scarcroft Lodge.
Fergus Purtill, managing director at Beadnall Copley, which is bringing the development to market, says there is "unbelievably strong underlying demand" for high-quality apartments in the area from residents who have lived in Scarcroft and Ling Lane for decades but need more manageable homes.
He says: “There is a limited supply of luxury apartments in the area, despite a significant number of long-standing, high-net-worth residents who wish to remain local but are increasingly looking for a premium downsizing alternative.”
"The two houses, Oakridge and Braithmere, offer something equally rare with high-quality family homes that are ready to move into, without the need for extensive refurbishment. There really is nothing else around there that's going to be comparable."
Woodlands Lodge features two ground-floor two-bedroom apartments (1,535 sq ft and 1,549 sq ft), a first-floor two-bedroom apartment (1,483 sq ft), and a three-bedroom duplex apartment (2,098 sq ft).
Alongside the lodge are two newly built houses. Oakridge, the larger at 3,290 sq ft, has five bedrooms, four en-suites, multiple reception rooms, a study, double garage and private landscaped gardens.
Braithmere spans 2,003 sq ft with four bedrooms, two en-suites, separate snug, study, integral garage and private landscaped gardens. They are constructed with Yorkshire stone quarried near Leyburn in North Yorkshire.
Residents will have access to amenities at the Audley Scarcroft Park retirement village, including spa, swimming pool, restaurant and salon, with 24-7 concierge services available.
For Ian, the appeal of projects like this goes beyond bricks and mortar. He says: "I love that we’ll create something that's real, tangible, distinctive, something that we’ll drive past in years to come knowing that we brought something back to life.
"Woodlands Lodge was at risk of not existing any more if we hadn't intervened to create something which will be around for another 150 years.”
The apartments, which have just been launched to the market, are priced from £995,000 to £1.295m. Braithmere is priced at £1.25m and Oakridge at £1.85m.
Ducale has also acquired North Lodge and South Lodge at the estate entrance, which Ian and David plan to restore and redevelop into high end individual residences in the future.