27-04-2025
EXCLUSIVE Bake Off star Paul Hollywood's plans to tear down crumbling conservatory at his farmhouse for huge open plan kitchen to film new TV shows
Paul Hollywood hopes to turn home cooking into a money spinner by filming TV cookery shows in a new kitchen extension at his historic farmhouse.
The Bake Off judge has applied for listed building consent to demolish a crumbling conservatory to make way for a bigger open plan kitchen diner at his rural retreat.
Planning documents describe him as 'a well known TV personality and celebrity chef', and reveal that his proposed 21ft by 16ft kitchen will have enough space for him to be filmed preparing recipes for 'documentaries'.
Hollywood, 59, wants it to replace his existing narrow and 'cramped' kitchen which is too small for filming inside his partly timber-framed house which dates back to the 17th century.
He is arguing that producing TV shows in his Grade Two listed property will be a 'social benefit to the public' and should help him get consent for the single storey extension.
Hollywood and his second wife Melissa, 41, who married in Cyprus in September 2023 have jointly submitted the application to build the new room at their home near Ashford, Kent.
They have also applied to construct a log store and a walled kitchen garden with pleached fruit trees and raised beds in between pathways to grow their own vegetables and herbs.
Their plans also involve turning their old kitchen into a study, making a dining room into a new sitting room, creating a family room out of the existing sitting room and replacing four Crittall-style windows with more traditional timber alternatives.
Hollywood had applied twice last year to build a flat roof extension on his home, set in eight acres in the so-called Garden of England, after buying the property for £875,000 in 2019.
But he withdrew both proposals after Ashford Borough Council officials voiced their disapproval and described the proposals as being 'discordant with the historic floor plans and character of the host building'.
He and his wife had a re-think and drew up their new plans which differ from the earlier ones because the extension will now be separated from the main part of his house by a linked walkway.
It will have 23 square metres of extra floor space compared to the existing 1980s conservatory which is described as structurally unsound, non-historic and in need of replacement.
Plans show that the kitchen diner, constructed from Flemish bond bricks and Kent peg roof tiles. will have a central island and three sets of double doors opening on to the patio and garden, helping light to flood in.
The report by the couple's agent Lander Planning argues that the new extension will be a 'separate entity' to the main house and 'visually and appropriately proportioned', meaning it does not 'affect the integrity of the heritage asset'.
The planning statement says: 'The proposed extension is needed for ad-hoc filming for the house's owner, Paul Hollywood, who is a well-known TV personality and celebrity chef.
'The existing kitchen is not large and is too narrow for filming purposes - the cameras cannot be set up adequately to obtain the required shots.
'The proposed kitchen will, on the other hand, provide a suitable space for these purposes. The space will enable the filming of unique documentary of Paul Hollywood cooking from home.
'This would provide an engaging and enhanced experience for viewers with the chef being in his own familiar environment.
'In summary, the proposed extension has been demonstrated as being necessary to meet the modern-day standards of a larger four bedroomed house, as well as for the ad-hoc filming of documentaries for the applicant who is a TV personality and celebrity chef.
'These factors constitute material considerations which should be attributed great weight in the determination of the application.'
The report adds: 'The public benefits of the proposal are that it will provide a kitchen space that is befitting of a property of this size, securing the property's future marketability and thus viability.
'The use of the space for TV cookery shows is a unique factor which would be of social benefit to the public.'
The report adds that the new 'open plan cooking and dining space' will have 'considerably more light than the current arrangement' and 'a natural evolution to the existing building'.
It adds: 'The existing kitchen is not fit for purpose, being a compact gallery with a narrow walkway between the two parallel countertops.
'The kitchen measures only 2.5m in depth and provides limited work space and storage. The size and layout of the kitchen does not meet the needs of modern-day standards.
'The restrictions of the listing of the property mean that providing a fit-for-purpose kitchen-diner in the main house is not possible without harming the integrity of the historic fabric as this would inevitably involve the demolition of internal walls.'
Hollywood's home already boasts stables, an orchard, paddock, a shepherd's nook and a poultry run.
The TV star was granted planning permission for a new garage for his collection of cars and motorbikes in December 2019.
But he was refused consent for a 40ft by 26ft steel framed storage building in October 2021 after it was deemed to be 'visually harmful' to the setting of the listed building.
Hollywood's planning agent cites a number of properties near his home which have had extensions approved.
The presenter who has been a judge on The Great British Bake Off since the show launched in 2010 also commissioned a heritage stamen by a historic buildings conservation architect who described his plans as a 'sympathetic addition' to his home.
Ashford Council is expected to make a decision on the plans next month and has so far received no objections from neighbours.
But the local parish council called for Hollywood's plans to be overseen by the district council's listed building team.
It added in a statement: 'We would like to understand the commercial use and what the social benefit is to the parish.
'The applicant speaks of filming within the property, the scale of the filming is not clear. We do not have any objections with the supplied plans.'
