Peace dividend
A former RAF radar site overlooking the North Sea in North Yorkshire has been short-listed for two major awards after being transformed into a high-end holiday home. Catherine Scott reports.
THIRTY years ago the Old Guard House in Goldsborough, near Whitby, was devastated by fire. For three decades, the owner of the former RAF radar site, the Mulgrave Estate, wrestled with what to do with it – and its adjacent nuclear bunker. But now it has been transformed into a luxury five-bedroom holiday home.
Part of the Mulgrave Estate, it has already achieved a 5-Star Gold Visit England Award and has now been shortlisted in two categories in the prestigious RICS Regional Awards, after being nominated for heritage project of the year and the refurbishment and revitalisation accolade.
The restoration of the building, which took 18 months to complete, was undertaken by interior designer Sibylla Phipps – daughter of Lord Mulgrave who owns the site.
“It used to be part if the outdoor education centre at East Barnby until there was a fire in 1994,” says estate manager Robert Childerhouse.“It has just sat there since then, gradually falling into more and more disrepair and becoming unsafe. There is an underground bunker on the site and I think there had been plans to develop that as well, but that was more complicated and so nothing ended up happening.
“Then the decision was made to block up the bunker – possibly to revisit it in the future – which meant we could go ahead with the development of the Old Guard House.”
The project was very much the brainchild of Sibylla, who wanted to restore the building to its former glory but also make it fit for purpose as a luxury 21st century holiday let.
“I was attracted to this project by its history. As a former RAF radar site, it was always a landmark and a point of interest in the area. It was badly damaged by a fire and stood as a skeletal wreck until we began work on it last year,” she says.
“It always seemed sad to me that a building with so much historical value should be left in a state of total disrepair and disuse. My grandmother, who worked in the WAAF [Women’s Auxiliary Air Force] in the Second World War, had always been keen to restore it but all previous attempts, and there have been many, proved unsuccessful.
“This was a very large project for us. We needed to restore the original building to exactly what it would have looked like during the Second World War. We were also able to put in a modern addition, which has been designed to work in harmony with the feel of the original building but takes advantage of the sensational views over the sea.
“It has been a great pleasure to work on the Old Guard House. We haven’t faced many challenges in the building process, mainly due to
nd the brilliant work of our construction company, Starline Construction, for whom seemingly no obstacle is insurmountable.
“My only regret is that the underground bunker, in which the control panels of the Guard House were kept, was beyond repair. Having been flooded for many decades, it was too dangerous to recover and is now sealed off for safety reasons.”
When decorating the Old Guard House, Sibylla had to decide between comfort and historicity.
“Should I try to entirely replicate a 1940s living environment or adapt it to a more modern design? In the end, I decided that a traditional 1940s look ought to be balanced with some more modern comforts. I don’t think many people would really want to sleep in a 1940s bed.
“The interior of the original Guard House I have kept as close to a 1940s interior as possible with the distinctive wallpaper of that era. I also managed to source some fantastic 1940s pieces of furniture and other vintage pieces from local antique shops in Whitby.
“In the modern addition, I have emphasised a sort of sprawling comfort. I like to think of it as the ‘mess room’, with big squishy sofas to lounge around on and a kitchen in the corner for snacks and informal dining.”
Sibylla adds: “I wanted to do justice to the design elements of 1940s Britain and I’m pleased with how it’s turned out. The architect I worked with, Richard Waller of Peter Rayment Designs, was extremely talented and sensitive to the needs of the project.
“He was very helpful as the Old Guard House is my first foray into building design as well as interior decor. It’s been great fun to work on such a creative project and dig into some of the rich history of the RAF in North Yorkshire, of which there’s such an abun