Underbank House, Holmfirth

Underbank House, Holmfirth
Howard Evans of Prue Chiles Architects for private client
GIA 29.5m²

Hurrah for the unconventional house extension. What could have been a standard glass and steel box with a green roof instead becomes a rocky outcrop here in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ country. The impression is that it is carved out rather than built up, a cave filled with light. Seen from its parent 18th century cottage above, it becomes part of the garden terraces and drystone walls on this steeply sloping site. But the stone peels away on the south and west elevations, framing distant views. It is all about making a domestic retreat that keeps its counsel outside, its secrets revealed only to those invited in. All very Yorkshire, then.

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