Story behind the fabulous and disability friendly Yorkshire Grand Design that had Kevin McCloud in raptures

There have been many remarkable properties but, for me, the latest home to star on the show is the best yet.

It’s in the Worth Valley, aka Bronte Country, and belongs to Kara and Jonny Scott, a young couple determined to make the best of a devastating situation and who have shown that being disabled does not always mean compromising on the way you want your home to look and perform.

The story of their self-built, single storey house began when Kara became paralysed from the chest down due to NMO, an autoimmune disease. She later fell out of her wheelchair and broke her back, which has limited her movement even more.

She and Jonny and their son Isaac, now seven, were living in a four storey townhouse at the time of her first traumatic hospitalisation and diagnostic tests carried out by the doctors also revealed that she was pregnant with their daughter Winnie, now four.

A stair lift wasn’t going to cut it up several flights of stairs in the townhouse so moving was a must. Luckily, Kara’s parents had a farmhouse with a separate two-bedroom bungalow that had been Kara’s late grandparents home.

Living there was a help but not a long-term solution. While the property was single storey, it was small with steps between levels, cupboards she couldn’t reach and a front door too narrow to get her wheelchair through.

So she and Jonny applied to construct an eco home in the field below and had an emphatic “no” from the council and so they asked if they could convert an old stable instead.

It was a “yes” as long as they knocked down the bungalow as compensation. Architects Stuart Wrighton and Amelia Phewa helped the couple with the design, which prioritises Kara’s mobility and comfort while being child friendly.

Now, what was an old stable is a beautiful, light-filled, single storey, energy efficient home built with the family and Kara’s abilities and disabilities in mind.

Jonny, an electrician, DIY master and human dynamo, has done a huge amount of the work himself on nights and weekends with help from Kara’s dad.

Constructed out of structural insulated panels from SIPS at Clays in Skipton, the house is mostly wrapped in zinc with the exception of a wall that is clad in stone from the stable to reflect the building’s past life.

The house, informed by passive house principles, is highly insulated and energy efficient with air source heat pumps and an heat recovery and ventilation system.

There are large areas of glazing, including a roof lantern from Clearview in the sitting area, that delivers life-enhancing natural light and views.

The open plan design with level access and wide corridors and doors means Kara can get around and can open and close the keyless front door.

Cooking is her passion but finding an attractive kitchen suitable for wheelchair users revealed that the choice from mainstream suppliers was limited, expensive and unsatisfactory for her needs so she and Jonny commissioned a bespoke one from friends at Eastburn Pine.

The cabinets are lower than average and the couple added kick rails from an old bar found on eBay, which protect the cabinets from damage by the wheelchair.

There’s a pantry with a hatch so Kara can pass what she needs through to a prep space rather than carry it and there is a window in the utility that opens and allows her to move clothes from the washing machine to a drying rack outside.

The instant hot water tap was a must as she can’t lift a heavy kettle and an AEG comfort lift dishwasher means she can lift the lower section to load and unload.

The food prep areas on the kitchen island have space for a wheelchair underneath and there’s a groove under the worktops which Kara uses to pull herself along in her chair.

The dining table was a £45 eBay bargain and Jonny came up with the idea of cladding one wall in red bricks salvaged from a demolished house built in the 1870s. It was hard work but it looks great and adds character.

Bath and shower rooms are walk-in with shallow, reachable basins from Norsa and Tim, a plumber friend, did a sterling job making sure everything else is reachable from a wheelchair while Darryl and Jim Lay from Haworth did the immaculate tiling.

The patio is accessed from sliding doors where there are accessible height planters for growing food and flowers.

The interiors, planned by Kara, could grace the pages of Elle Decoration magazine with their bold and brilliant use of colour, art work, including work by Jess Kidd, and vintage and antique finds, including the sensational sliding doors, originally from a stately home in the Lake District, that allow the kitchen to be closed off.

Jonny put bells in every room just in case Kara needs to ring for assistance. The sitting area sports an electric Everhot stove, much loved by their rescue dog, and a sofa with high seats from Luxor upholstery so Kara can transfer on and off it from her chair. The lighting, including retro switches and lights, is Jonny’s doing.

The four bedrooms are beautiful and accessible and Kara and Jonny’s includes a window seat where she can read and takes in the view of the field she played in as a child.

Ikea Pax wardrobes with the doors taken off mean clothes are accessible from the lower shelves. There’s also a therapy room for Kara, who admits there were times when she felt deeply depressed due to her condition, though she and Jonny are naturally upbeat and more so now they have an accessible home.

They know they are lucky but they hope there are ideas that others can use and Kara says: “As soon as you say ‘disabled’ the cost rises, the choice falls and style goes out of the window.”

The only obvious disability aid in her home is a shower chair but there’s not a white grab rail in sight.

“Being in hospital was very traumatic and those white grab rails are triggering, bringing back memories I want to forget,” she says.

Like most “Grand Designs”, theirs was over budget, climbing from their £280,000 estmate to around £400,000 with most of the shortfall met by Kara’s parents.

The result is a triumph and much deserved by two of the loveliest, kindest, smiliest people you could meet.

Profit was never the objective but this forever home has paid off. It is now valued at £850,000, though it’s unlikely to come to market.

Kevin McCloud sums it up best as “Faultless, flawless, 21st century Yorkshire.”

*Grand Designs airs Wednesdays 9pm on Channel 4 and this episode is available for catch up on Channel 4 streaming.