Ilkley Moor 'boulder' house approved after planning appeal

Plans for a house designed to look like rocks on a famous Yorkshire moor have been approved.

The contemporary structure, which has large irregular-shaped windows and a natural outdoor pool, looks similar to the landmark Cow and Calf Rocks in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

The house will be built on green belt land which is the garden of a home off Heber's Ghyll Drive, and will be eco-friendly, to an ultra-low energy standard called Passivhaus.

Harrogate-based architects Shaw & Jagger said the scheme was eventually passed by HM Planning Inspectorate through the country house clause, which allows development on green belt for buildings of "exceptional quality".

The architect Matt Masserella-Gill was commissioned to design the home by the landowner David Rasche.

He said the design was "arguably the most complex country house application ever made in this country".

The house has been named Fomorian - meaning a supernatural race of giants in Irish mythology - taking inspiration from the mythical giant Rombald who is told to have lived on Ilkley Moor.

Masserella-Gill said: "The design approach was to propose a scheme that is intrinsically linked to the spirit of its place. Fomorian is of its place, part of the moors, its geology and its spirit.

"We took cues from local folklore, the surrounding rocks; ancient carvings, standing stones and escarpments that are synonymous with the landscape."

The application was originally submitted to Bradford Council planners, but was not passed on the grounds of non-determination - meaning a decision was not made within the required timeframe.

The plans had received an objection from Ilkley Town Council, who recommended it be refused as it would be a "visual anomaly to the moorland".

The land "forms part of the South Pennine Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest, the South Pennine Moors Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation, and more recently, which has been designated as a new National Nature Reserve," it said.

The council also noted the proposed development was close to the Swastika Stone, a prehistoric rock carving which is one of hundreds of Scheduled Ancient Monuments on Ilkley Moor.

Bradford Council's decision was appealed however, and was passed by the Planning Inspectorate in August.

Masserella-Gill added: "The site is subject to restrictive planning policies which made the principle of development very challenging.

The country house clause requires an isolated design of "exceptional quality" in that it "is truly outstanding", would "significantly enhance its immediate setting and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area".

He said the planning inspector noted that Fomorian was "an innovative design" that "would help raise the standards of design in the rural area more generally".

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