THE former home of Terry’s chocolate company owner Noel Goddard Terry is to be opened up to visitors.

The National Trust has applied to City of York Council for planning permission to open part of Goddards to the public from Wednesdays to Sundays between March and September.

It hopes the Grade I listed Arts and Crafts house in Tadcaster Road, York, will receive 20,000 visitors by 2014/15.

The organisation has revealed that it plans to use the property to tell the story of the Terry family, through exhibits, audio tapes, videos and other displays, with the aim of bringing alive the history of Goddards, the Terry family and York’s chocolate industry.

The gardens are already open to the public, and received more than 5,500 visitors in 2011, including local school parties. The property, situated next to the racecourse, has been the main regional office for the Trust’s Yorkshire region since 1983.

Almost 50 staff and another 20 volunteers currently work there, but the trust says working arrangements are changing.

Regional staff work more from home and from other trust properties. This means Goddards will be used less intensively as offices, allowing parts of the property to be opened up to the public.

The property is set to be used to introduce people to the trust, but also to act as a gateway to other properties nearby, with the possibility of visitors being offered bikes to go on to other historic properties such as the Treasurer’s House and Beningbrough Hall.

The trust said it had started negotiations for Park & Ride buses to stop at Goddards, so that visitors parking at Askham Bar could get off there rather than going all the way into the city centre and then back out again on a second bus.

Holly Brett, general manager for the National Trust’s York cluster of properties, said there had been a great level of interest from visitors, neighbours and the wider community in opening the house to “give a flavour of how the Terry family lived and shared their lives”.

“There are so many different stories to tell around the Terry family, their factory and their life in York – we plan to continually to develop the visitor experience over the coming years, working in partnership where possible to deliver a wonderful place people to come and enjoy."

Holly said the trust also planned to open a tearoom and small shop at the property.