IT looks at first sight like an historic house from the Georgian era - but this is in fact a brand new property, about to go on the market for a cool £1.85 million.

The luxury home, called King’s Guinea, has been built in neo-classical style in the grounds of the former Knavesmire Manor Hotel in Tadcaster Road.

Developer John Reeves of the Helmsley Group purchased the old hotel - itself set to be turned into a grand family house - and then achieved planning permission for the new house, said Louise Hirst, of agents Carter Jonas.

“He wanted to’ ‘build something special for the long term, and went for a modern interpretation of the traditional Georgian country house, much beloved by buyers and very rarely built on such a grand scale,” she said.

“It’s an amazing 5,000+ square ft house in a largely walled garden, just a short distance from the city centre and railway station, close to the Knavesmire and Racecourse.

“It’s a real one off – not often such big new houses are built in York. Houses of this size so close to the city are a true rarity. Many of the larger town houses in the city don’t lend themselves as well to modern family living as they are over a number of floors and don’t have the free-flowing open spaces inside and outside.

“King’s Guinea offers the best in linear family living with big rooms enjoying access to the landscaped garden, a double garage and plentiful parking.”

The house is approached along a private drive and accessed through full height electric timber gates, and stands within landscaped and largely walled gardens.

The bespoke kitchen has been designed by Stephen Neall Interiors of Harrogate, and is hand painted with a contemporary Silestone work surface, and there are three reception rooms on the ground floor, a drawing room with a ‘stunning’ limestone fireplace and bi-folding doors to a paved terrace, ideal for al fresco entertaining.

Louise said York’s proximity to London had long been a selling point but this had been further enhanced now with King’s Cross becoming the ‘undisputed digital capital’ of Europe.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter etc all have big offices there-these types of industries have a more relaxed approach to working and commuting to York is very do-able for these types of individuals,” she added.