Vale Mill owners want to turn it into a very des res

Bought in 2008 for £57,000 by Vale Mill Ltd directors Richard Ridout and the late Roger Perrot, the building on Hougue du Moulin in Vale, which is on the protected building register, could be restyled into a six-floor four-bedroomed house complete with an observation deck, an underground extension with a barbecue terrace and a summer house on a floating platform.

Since the property purchase in 2008 the access road, nearby field and quarry have also been purchased in preparation for the planning application.

Mr Ridout said he was excited to bring the concept, thought up by himself and Advocate Perrot, to the fore.

‘We already had planning approved for the building to be turned into a house,’ he said. ‘Now we’re ready to develop it into something the whole island can be proud of, something that is really beautiful and different.

‘It’s going to have views across the quarry, which we hope to turn into a nature reserve.’

The proposals, submitted by CCD Architects, are to convert the existing mill into a four-bedroomed house with a kitchen dining area, utility room and breakfast room and a lift between the floors along with a substantial basement extension, cantilevering out over the water-filled quarry.

The top two floors, which were a wartime German observation post, would remain as open spaces.

The cantilevered extension would be constructed within the rock face, built with masonry to match along with large windows overlooking the quarry opening onto a balcony deck.

It would be connected to the mill by an underground link, which it is proposed will run under the driveway between the mill and the quarry.

There are also plans for a walkway from the main house towards a floating summer house.

The planning application advises that in it its current state, including problems with damp, a lot of work is needed and these plans address them and turns the building into something that is useful.

‘By creating a valuable property which takes full advantage of this unique site, the increase in site value will ensure the long-term use and maintenance of the important protected mill building, which would otherwise be subject to gradual decay and ultimate ruin,’ the application states.

Due to the building’s protected status, the application has said that alterations to the exterior of the building will be minimised.

The existing building is an historic mill, originally built in 1854 for wheat and corn production.

It was later modified by German troops during the Second World War as an observation post.

• Any comments on the application are to be submitted to the Development & Planning Authority by 7 February.

• The planning application can be accessed from reception at Sir Charles Frossard House.