A cluster of cylindrical outbuildings have become a striking home that blends sustainability with rural charm

By Francesca Peacock

In a world of high-spec mansions and smart town houses, an abandoned grain silo may not seem an obvious choice for luxury living. Yet in Malton, North Yorkshire, one unconventional development defies expectations. The Silos is a sleek four-bedroom house, set in the unusual cylindrical shapes of the former agricultural buildings and surrounded by the Yorkshire countryside. The property is on the market for £4.25mn.

Richard Dales and Olivia Ward -- a father-daughter developer team -- built eight other properties on the former Rothschild estate after buying the land in 2019. In 2021, when those projects were complete, they began to reconsider the steel barn they'd used as a base for the site's renovations. The unusual forms of the eight adjacent grain silos had been in place since the early 20th century. Hardly normal spaces for domestic living, the buildings seemed too important -- and interesting -- to let go. The project to transform the silos was born.

Dales is frank about the difficulties the project came with -- "You'd need about three hours!" he says, when I ask him to tell me of any particular challenges. While the steel barn had been renovated, the silos were derelict at the time. Completely circular, they required everything -- from the windows to the carpentry in the kitchen -- to be made to their exact specifications. "In development, you get a lot of rubbish spoken about things being bespoke" he says, "but I've never built a house that has literally been bespoke from one end to another."

Because of the many challenges of the project the developers didn't want to put the house on the market until it was finished. The results are stunning: an ultra-modern house, with sweeping curved staircases inside, light-filled living spaces in the kitchen and sitting rooms, a cosy library and an internal olive tree in the central atrium between the silos. The internal sense of space and light is met with the unbroken views of the North York Moors outside.

But it isn't all about looks. For summer the bespoke curved windows have a UV and glare filter, while things stay toasty in winter thanks to the underfloor heating. Energy to the house comes from two heat pumps and a 44,000kWh photovoltaic system on the roof of the barn, which produces the electricity needed for the house -- and more, which it returns to the National Grid. With an EPC rating of A124 -- meaning it is 24 per cent more efficient than the highest UK rating -- this is a house which, in the 10 months it's been running so far "genuinely . . . makes money", Dales says, estimating that the house could produce as much as £13,200 worth of electricity annually.

There's something paradoxical about the house: an old abandoned grain silo, polished and perfected to become a sparkly, energy-efficient space ship. It's slightly surreal; a futuristic fever-dream.

Photography: Savills