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Lakeside houses given conservation status

News imageLDNPA Windermere Villas comprise several large houses on the shores of the lake, some with boathouses. They are pictured from the still, dark water. A mature area of thick trees sits behind the six houses which are detached with a decent gap between each. In the main they are two-storey buildings with additional dormers and have extremely neat gardens dominated by very well-maintained hedges. The wooden, shed-like boathouses, four of which are shown, face out on to the lake and resemble double door garages with pitched roofs.LDNPA
Windermere Villas were designed with gardens, terraces and viewpoints framing the lake and mountains

A conservation area has been created next to England's largest lake in an effort to protect homes, gardens and parks built by Victorian industrialists.

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) conferred the designation on Windermere Villas, covering spots at Belle Isle, Cockshot Point and land on the eastern shore of the water.

The organisation described the zone as notable for its carefully plotted gardens and connections to writers such as Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth, who it said "helped lay the foundations for modern conservation and the concept of protected landscapes".

Built by wealthy visitors, several of the villas are open to the public with some operating as hotels.

They Blackwell, a Grade I listed building and Grade II registered park and garden designed by Hugh Baillie Scott in the arts and crafts style popular between the 1880s and 1920.

News imageLake District National Park Authority Blackwell - a large house painted white with a grey roof. A trimmed lawn runs alongside the property.Lake District National Park Authority
Blackwell is now managed by Lakeland Arts and open to the public.

Rose Lord, built environment advisor for the LDNPA, said the conservation area status "recognises and celebrates the distinctive villa landscape that has evolved around Windermere".

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