A MAJOR new country house is to be built at Ashley, near King's Somborne.

Permission for the 14,000 sq ft building was turned down by Test Valley planners but an appeal against the decision has been upheld.

It was a landmark appeal, said Robert Adam, the Winchester architect who designed the building. He said it was only the second appeal to be won under the Government's controversial policy that permits new country houses only if the architecture and landscape design are 'of the highest quality' and 'truly exceptional'.

The house will be built of Bath stone and brick in virgin countryside, with 11 bedrooms, a garage block, two staff flats and a swimming pool on land adjacent to Charwood Copse and Gunners Earth Copse.

Estimates have put the cost of building between £2 million and £3 million with the house worth in the region of £8 to £12 million on completion.

It is believed to be one of only a handful of similarly sited properties to have received planning permission since the advent of the policy and the only country house on a greenfield site to have been won on appeal.

Designed for Grace and Tim Everett, who already own the land and live in the area, the house will sit in 50 acres of wholly new landscaped park.

Work will start immediately on the technical drawing and the building is expected to be completed by Christmas next year.

The design is classical but goes beyond the conventional Georgian to create modern living spaces and large areas of window. The building has four main blocks: state rooms, family wing, tower and garage and staff block.