No expense spared on one of Harrogate’s finest Duchy homes

was past its sell-by date and so we closed it in 2007,” he says.

“I could see it would make a fantastic house again.”

The conversion from commercial to residential was carried out in 2008 and the couple worked as a design team. Graeme came up with the layout, while Simone concentrated on the décor and the bathrooms.

“I knew exactly what I wanted and that was a contemporary house with a large open-plan living space. To get that we had to take it back to a shell,” says Graeme, who also came up with the drawings for the dramatic, modern fireplace that acts as a focal point on the ground floor.

He struggled to find someone to make it for him until Knaresborough-based fireplace specialists Robert Aagaard stepped forward.

“No-one else seemed able to do it. Aagaard’s were fantastic,” says Graeme, who is also full of praise for Clarity Arts, of Summerbridge, who designed and made the kitchen.

The Lees were heavily influenced by apartment living in Simone’s native Brazil.

“We spend quite a bit of time there and this house lends itself to the same modern look,” says Graeme.

The property boasts marble floors with underfloor heating, six zone HD TV distribution, solid walnut Dooria interior doors, coated aluminium windows and a light and sound system.

It has a split-level reception hall with a glass and walnut staircase, study, cinema room and a sitting room extending to the dining space and kitchen, which has walnut doors and Corian work surfaces.

The ground floor also has a laundry room and shower room. On the first floor, there is a master bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the grounds. This room has a “secret door” created by local developer La Rock, which leads to his and hers dressing rooms. The bathroom has a sunken Jacuzzi and rainfall shower. There are two further ensuite bedrooms. On the second floor, there are three en-suite bedrooms, a sitting room and a playroom/leisure area with bar.

Outside, there is a double garage. The gardens have their own sound system and sunken hot tub.

“It was a stressful project and a lot of pressure but we are delighted with the end result,” says Graeme. NEW mortgage advances in the third quarter of this year stood at £40bn, up seven per cent from the second quarter but down nine per cent on the same period last year.

Lending for house purchase accounted for 66 per cent of this amount, official statistics from the FSA show.

The proportion of lending done at more than 90 per cent LTV was just above two per cent for the third quarter in a row, demonstrating the ongoing requirement by lenders for large deposits. Lenders also continued to look unfavourably on borrowers with impaired credit histories, with only 0.3 per cent of loans going to them.

The proportion of advances for remortgages was the lowest ever at 27 per cent. JIGSAW Letting in Selby won ARLA Letting Agent of the Year 2012-13 for Yorkshire.

It is the third year running that owner Sandra Widdrington has been recognised as one of the leading professionals within the industry. She won Yorkshire Letting Agent of the Year 2011-12 and Property Woman of the Year 2010-11.

Sandra says: “We are all absolutely delighted to win this prestigious award again. The competition for this region was really tough, so this accolade really is testament to the pride, passion and dedication of everyone at Jigsaw Letting as well as their determination to provide consistent and outstanding customer service.”