Award-winning designer reveals plan to turn former riding school into luxury glamping site

An award-winning designer whose career has seen her work on TV show 60 Minute Makeover has revealed an ambition to transform a former riding school into a luxury glamping site.
Lia MartinucciLia Martinucci
Lia Martinucci

Lia Martinucci has applied to Richmondshire District Council to launch an environmentally-friendly retreat for people seeking a “combination of vintage and festival-style luxury camping”.

She has proposed the site off Green Lane, Hudswell, near Richmond, which is to be known as My Happy Place, will feature 12 five-metre luxury, off-grid, bell tents each with luxury linen, beds, a barbecue and a log burner as well as six pitches for people to bring their own tents.

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The planning application states the site, which would be open from April to September, would be divided into a family zone, a lovers’ zone and a hang-out zone and include bespoke tents with names such as The Owl And The Pussycat, Whispers The Wind and Mellow Yellow.

Documents submitted to the authority state while the glamping site’s facilities would be based in existing farmyard buildings, the riding school’s club house would be converted into a home for two people working at the site to live in.

Ms Martinucci said the farm had “always been my dream property”, but since buying it in 2007, it had “proved a very inhospitable place to live” and it had become clear she could not maintain the riding school.

She said: “Life here is hard. I have battled through the elements and hardships and I have struggled to keep afloat, often sacrificing heating in order to feed horses and family. But nowhere is more beautiful or charming in the summer months and we are privileged to live in this glorious area.”

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The interiors expert, whose business has been based in York, said after being introduced to yoga and mindfulness she wanted to share the lifestyle with others.

She said: “There is much to be benefited from being one with nature and accepting that the most precious things are the simplest. It is important to me that we move forward and bring future generations back to admire the importance of nature.

"Each species of tree has been carefully chosen in lines with ancient folklore, as these trees grow, I am hopeful that schools and families will bring their children to learn about their ancient history.

“This last year I have spent all my spare time upcycling, collecting pallets and cable reels, painting murals on walls, filling pots with plants, hanging old agricultural tools on walls. This is a labour of love.

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"As an award-winning designer, I have to be constantly creating, it is part of my nature, the solitude of the dales, for all its beauty, can often stifle me; so armed with a jigsaw, a nail gun, a drill and a paint brush, I am a lot easier for myself to live with.”

Lower Swaledale councillor Richard Good said in principle he supported the proposal as there was a "rising demand for glamping-type facilities and a number of alternative riding stables in the area.”

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