New homes: Georgian style townhouses at Ashfield House, Tadcaster Road, York (From York Press)

New homes: Georgian style townhouses at Ashfield House, Tadcaster Road, York

11:58am Thursday 4th March 2010

It must have been something of a shock to the system. Having shelled out what we can safely assume was a considerable sum of money, Kim Gonsalves stepped over the threshold of her new property to be met with, well, a semi-derelict shambles.

The dripping walls, crumbling cornicing and coving, the distressed windows and the even more distressed stairways would have been enough to see most people asking for their money back (or at least calling in the bulldozers).

Not Kim, however… Because she had a vision of restoring this antiquarian heap to its original glory.

“It was something of a mess,” she says. “Someone had been up on the roof and pinched the lead so the ceilings were just pouring water in. And it was big. So big.”

Indeed. Ashfield House was originally completed in 1850, a Victorian splendour built in classical Georgian style, sitting grandly in the wide open spaces of mid 19th Century Tadcaster Road. A property of the kind York affluent folk most admired – elegant, graceful and spacious.

In more recent times it has served as billeting quarters for the RAF and, latterly, the property of York College who, functionally, and in the circumstances understandably, put up partitions, stuck in closets and generally turned grand open spaces into smaller utilitarian areas.

Sad, perhaps, but at least the building was in use. Once the college moved out, however, out the lead-pinchers moved in… And devastation ensued.

All in all, then, a daunting prospect for even the most experienced of property developers. So, you did have experience, Kim?

“No. This was my first project…”

Blimey! Our admiration for this grand vision becomes even deeper. Because, today, the derelict shambles has become exactly what Kim envisioned, a grand period home, elegant, stylish and in places breathtakingly beautiful.

The Phoenix has risen… We are in Number 6 Ashfield House, one of four Georgian-style townhouses that will eventually be created from the original building – all with very different styling and layouts.

It’s a grand house – in every sense of the word, both Yorkshire colloquial and dictionary definition.

The hallway alone is enough to take the breath away. Some 40ft long with cream limestone flooring, a decorative archway and an original half-turn staircase.

We tip-tap in stockinged feet (lovely underfloor heating) through to the spectacular kitchen with its multi-pitched roof smiling down benignly on the craftsman-made units, which have a soft sage painted finish with contrasting black granite preparation areas, and quality built-in appliances including an America-style fridge freezer, Britannia range cooker and Miele dishwasher and microwave. (On the lower ground floor there is a utility room which, frankly, is bigger than most kitchens we’ve seen – and even here the fitted units are high quality with solid oak worksurfaces).

But it is when you step through to the living area that the sheer grandeur of this home is revealed. Technically there is a huge drawing room to the front and a family/dining room to the rear. But, skilfully, these can be made one simply by opening the glass faced connecting doors. This creates an amazing amount of space. Light streams in from the full height bay window to the front, the ceilings are stately home high and the coving, cornicing and skirting beautifully recreated to match the originals. There are Italian marble fireplaces as feature points in both rooms and underfoot wonderfully rich solid wood, wide sprung floorboards.

Up that grand sweeping staircase there is a master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, including walk-in shower, three further bedrooms (one with an en-suite shower room) and a luxurious house bathroom.

It is eye-opening to see how the traditional features of the house contrast with ultramodern kitchen and bathrooms. But then throughout all of this beautiful home there is that subtle blend of period features and contemporary comforts.

Kim is delighted we have noticed. “I’ve always been interested in the way you can blend the best period features with contemporary styling,” she says.

And she goes on to explain that it was a chance meeting that has led to the rebirth of one of York’s finest properties.

It was when Kim got to know Jonathan Graves, an architectural restorer who has been involved with the restoration of numerous historic and prestigious buildings that the project really began to take shape.

The two worked closely together, ensuring huge attention to even the smallest detail… “Whichever room I walked into I asked myself how I would live in that room, I imagined how it would be used if I was living here – and then we set about making that real.”

With imagination, style and a sense of grandeur Ashfield House has been brilliantly reclaimed. The result is truly spectacular and Kim is deservedly delighted. “I’m really pleased,” she says, “that we have been able to restore the house and produce something truly exceptional.”

Ashfield House, a collection of four Georgian style townhouses, all built to individual and separate styling, is marketed by RM English (01904 697900). Number 6 Ashfield House is priced at £725,000. Other prices are still to be fixed.