Blackadder star wins right to build futuristic home (From Oxford Mail)

Blackadder star wins right to build futuristic home

1:00pm Saturday 28th August 2010 in

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COMEDIAN Rowan Atkinson has won permission to build an ultra-modern countryside home after telling councillors it would not “parody” the country’s heritage.

The Mr Bean and Blackadder star will now pull down a 1930s house near Ipsden, in South Oxfordshire, and replace it with a glass and white steel, five-bedroomed home.

The decision to approve the proposals went against expert advice and opposition from local residents who branded the design a “space-age petrol station”.

Councillors at the meeting at Crowmarsh near Wallingford, instead said this was a chance to champion excellent design.

Mr Atkinson, 55, commissioned New York-based architect Richard Meier to create an “exemplary contemporary design, aimed to inspire, yet to be practical to live in”to replace the current house, which has been labelled “bland, uninspiring and unattractive”.

Mr Atkinson, who has lived in the area for 28 years, promised the property would not be out of keeping.

He said: “I don’t want to live in a house that is weird or futuristic but one that is simple, graceful and elegant.”

The actor did agree the three-storey property would stand out from the landscape. However, he said this was not grounds to reject the plans but simply a description of how good architecture works.

“The home will add to our architectural heritage, rather than parody it,” he said.

The proposal also includes a guest pavilion, garage, tennis court and barns.

Parish councillors in Ipsden and the Chilterns Conservative Board were among those who objected. But the design also won support from some residents and a number of architects.

Planning officers from South Oxfordshire District Council had recommended the plans be refused due to the contrast between the modern design and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Farmer Ben Yates, 45, added: “The houses round here all are traditionally built. His will stick out like a sore thumb.”

Crowmarsh district councillor John Griffin, said: “We want not to be so unadventurous and say everything has to be traditional.

“This could be something we are proud to have there.

“And this opportunity comes along only when somebody has enough money to hire the top architect.”