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New chapter for iconic 200-year-old York windmill as it goes on the market

A disused 19th century windmill that has become a familiar landmark for passengers on the East Coast Mainline between York and Doncaster has been put on the market, complete with three quarters of an acre of land and planning permission to convert it into an extraordinary three-bedroom home.

The unique, brick-built, Grade-II listed structure, between the villages of Appleton Roebuck and Bolton Percy near York, was built around 1820. It functioned as a working mill, grinding corn for over a century until its sails were removed in the 1930s and its mechanism dismantled during the second world war.

Much photographed, and an inspiration to artists such as Karl Wood, whose pen and ink study of the four-storey windmill currently hangs in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln, the mill has been owned by the Houseman family for more than half a century. Brothers Henry and John Houseman, whose father Harry purchased the windmill in 1964 as part of a plot of agricultural land, are now selling the structure after working for several years to obtain planning permission for it to be developed into a residential property.

“For a long time we have been working hard to get residential planning permission, so that we could find a way forward, bring the windmill back to life and enable it to be loved as it deserves to be,” said John Houseman’s wife Jane.

“We’re thrilled to have finally achieved that goal and are really looking forward to seeing what sort of exciting restoration project will transform this amazing, but for many years rather forlorn, old building.

“The Housemans have farmed in Bolton Percy for hundreds of years and although as a family we would have loved this to be our own redevelopment project, unfortunately we just have too many other commitments,” said Jane.

Toby Cockcroft, director of Croft Residential, the York-based agency marketing the windmill, said: “The old windmill really is a unique building and the planning consent has now opened up all sorts of options for conversion into an amazing home which could be used as an investment opportunity or holiday cottage. The views from the top of the mill are fabulous with panoramas of York Minster and a vast sweep of the surrounding area.”

He added: “The property is also really well connected, at just 20 minutes’ drive from York, with the fast East Coast Mainline service to London, and five minutes from the A64. Many people know this building, which is something of an icon locally, and not surprisingly it is generating lots of interest from potential buyers with their own ideas for a Grand Design.”

With a guide price of £200,000, the windmill is for sale by informal tender. The closing date for offers is 12 noon on Thursday 21 June 2018. Offers should be submitted in writing to Croft Residential, Pavilion 2000, Amy Johnson Way, York, YO30 4XT or to toby@croftresidential.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Kilmurray .