Billington couple looking to replace farmhouse with eco-home

Damian and Romy Hanson have lodged plans to demolish the existing four‑bedroom house, attached double garage and outbuilding at Rose Hill Farm, off Whalley Old Road, and construct a “self‑build” property with two detached outbuildings and a new private access lane.

Documents submitted to Ribble Valley Borough Council say the current building, formerly known as Smalleys Farm House, has never been modernised and is “dated, dark, and highly inefficient,” with no modern heating system, upgraded windows or open‑plan layout, and poor connection to the gardens and countryside views.

An aerial view of the existing house (Image: Zara Moon Architects)

The Hansons, who also own surrounding grazing land to the north, south and west, argue it would be more sustainable to start again and create a future‑proofed eco‑home tailored to their needs than to try to retrofit the old building.

Their architect says redesigning the site as a replacement dwelling would allow a high‑quality contemporary farmhouse‑style home to be delivered while removing two “poor quality” existing structures.

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Under the proposals, the new house would be arranged in a U‑shape around a central courtyard, with an open‑plan kitchen, dining and living space facing north and west towards long‑range views and the main rear garden.

All five bedrooms would have en‑suites, with the main bedroom given a walk‑in wardrobe and covered balcony, and a separate leisure outbuilding would provide a guest annexe and home gym.

One of the outbuildings due to be knocked down (Image: Zara Moon Architects)

A revised double garage building would also contain plant, storage and space for an electric vehicle charging point, cycles, and a ride‑on mower to maintain the grounds.

The scheme is pitched as a low‑carbon build featuring an “integrated solar roof system”, air source heat recovery, high levels of insulation and airtightness, rainwater collection, and battery storage, using locally sourced stone and timber to blend into the rural setting.

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The planning statement says the volume of the new buildings would increase by about 40 per cent compared with the existing, but still fall within greenbelt policy limits for replacement homes on previously developed “grey belt” land and would not cause “substantial harm” to openness.

A key part of the application is a new access lane cut through the Hansons’ own field to the south to give a shorter, more direct driveway from Whalley Old Road.

The existing house in Billington (Image: Zara Moon Architects)

Pre‑application advice had raised concerns that an earlier version could “urbanise” the field, so the revised route now follows the natural topography between existing gates, uses a narrow natural‑stone surface and timber field gates, and is designed to look like an agricultural track rather than a suburban drive.

The house itself sits well below road level and around 150m from Whalley Old Road, and the design team say it is already largely hidden by landform and trees, with new planting and bat and bird boxes proposed to boost screening and biodiversity.

They add that neighbouring homes are well spaced, meaning the replacement dwelling would meet overlooking distances and have “no unacceptable adverse effect” on amenity.

To view the plans in full, visit the council's planning website.