The $30 million farmhouse facelift

Celebrity baker Paul Hollywood has resubmitted planning applications for his 18th-century Grade II listed farmhouse in Kent after a previous proposal was rejected for being too large and insensitively designed.

The new plans offer two scaled-back options for a kitchen-diner extension , removing filming references and emphasizing heritage compatibility , amid a mix of local support and ongoing scrutiny.

Ashford Borough Council's plnaning committee must balance the applicants' heritage arguments against the stringent protections afforded to Grade II listed buildings and their settings.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

The dispute centers on Hollywood's desire to replace a 1980s lean-to conservatory with a new open-plan kitchen and dining area , a project he initially framed as facilitating home-based cookery show filming, which he argued would constitute a public social benefit.

That earlier scheme, which would have increased the property's footprint by almost 25 percent, was denied in October on the grounds that its scale, bulk, design, and massing were not sympathetic to the historic building and would harm its character.

Parish council scrutiny had also questioned the commercial nature of the proposed filming activities and their tangible local benefits.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The application also scales back a previously proposed walled kitchen garden, substituting a lower brick wall intended to better match the property's existing materials, after council officers criticized the earlier high-walled design as more appropriate for a 'higher status country house.'

Architectural representatives for Hollywood assert that the new designs directly rectify the council's earlier objections, emphasizing that the extensions are subservient to the original dwelling through careful consideration of symmetry, appearance, and setting, while utilizing forms, articulation, and materials drawn from the host building.

The supporting planning statement argues the proposals would bring clear heritage benefits and, being materially smaller than the refused scheme, should now be approved.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

Early public response appears more favorable than before , with one neighbor noting the property is well screened and another supporting the application as complementary to the existing structure and surroundings.

The decision now rests with Ashford Borough Council's planning committee, who must balance the applicants' heritage arguments against the stringent protections afforded to Grade II listed buildings and their settings.