Staveley has seen many changes over the past thirty years or so, most notably with the creation of a by-pass which carries the majority of traffic past the village and straight to Windermere and the heart of the Lake District.

This has seen the village becoming a much sought-after location, both for residential as well as niche commercial and retail properties.

Our client on this occasion was a property developer who appointed Mellor Architects after purchasing the land with a view to building a single detached house.

The elevated site, which is within the Lake District National Park, is steeply sloping due to it being at the bottom of Reston Scar and affords spectacular unspoilt 180-degree views from the east to the west.

Occupying quite a prominent position in the village, the site was always going to attract interest from the local community and a degree of sensitivity would be required throughout the project.

After carrying out a feasibility for the site and initial consultations with the Lake District National Park Planning Department, it became clear that it would be possible to develop two detached dwellings, thereby maximising the value of the site for our client.

The accommodation, which includes four bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, study and garage is over a number of levels. This ‘split living’ approach provides interesting internal spaces as well as breaking up the external mass of the houses, which appear to step down the hill side, which the planners were keen to achieve.