Manor of the Lord!

Built in the early to mid 1600s, the barn was used as a Nonconformist meeting place for the Thornton Independents with a license granted to John Hall, who owned the barn and Kipping House in 1678.

There are even tales of a secret tunnel running from the house next door as an escape when bailiffs came to arrest them.

Now there's a different kind of worship going on at Kipping Bar - at the altar of light and space. Owners Lord Patel of Bradford and his wife, Lady Patel, spent six years watching this Grade II listed barn turn from a shell into a home with five bedrooms and five reception rooms.

Kamlesh - Lord Patel's real name - explains how Kipping Barn got its name: "There are slits in the stonework at the back of the barn where members of the congregation watched out for soldiers. If they spotted any they shouted out keep in the barn'. Which in time got turned into Keeping Barn."

He says the barn's other claim to fame is the fact that the Bronte children used to play there when they were visiting friends next door in Kipping House.

Kamlesh, who became Lord Patel of Bradford in June 2006, now finds that his work as chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission, heading a research unit for the University of Central Lancashire and being in the House of Lords is taking him away from his home too much. The couple had to make the painful decision to relocate, although they intend to keep a presence in the village but in something smaller.

Six years ago the couple were living in another house in the area which had been done up by a company specialising in renovating old barns while retaining their history. When Yasmin and Kamlesh saw their latest project, Kipping Barn, they fell in love with it. It was destined to be turned into two homes, and although the second house was the one they wanted, they left it and nothing happened for months. Then they decided to buy both and turn it into one home.

"Yasmin couldn't sleep for worrying about whether we would get it - but we did," Kamlesh recalls. "The biggest credit for the success of the transformation has to go to Bill and Lawrence Harris of Transatlantic Properties. They used local labour, so thanks must also go to the people in Thornton who helped.

"The venture took three years. The staircase went in just six weeks before we moved in. Prior to that there was only a ladder to the first floor. We've lived in the house for four years and we still fiddle around with it.

"We've put our heart and soul in this house and learnt such a lot along the way. When we didn't like the door frames we had them ripped out and replaced in oak, which is what all the wood is through the house."

The cobbles at the front were taken up and re-laid by hand. Then they searched all over the country for flueless gas fires, and even further afield the lights; in the lounge are three hand-made Parisian lights, with Italian ones in another room.

"Then there were the hours we spent tramping around a quarry in wellies, looking for just the right marble to use. Finally we saw just one piece of Turkish marble and said that's what we want'.

"Space is important to us, so we wanted open plan. Bill is an American so he brought that sense of light space you find in the States to all his buildings."

There are five reception rooms and five or six bedrooms, with many of the rooms downstairs divided not by brick but glass, which gives the illusion of it being one huge space, with soaring beams, galleried landings and marble floors.

"The glass walls are about 22ft high, with oak between the panes. The barn had been a blacksmith's at one time, and the lounge is where the horses were shod. There's also a glass ceiling in the lounge, so when you look down from the gallery you can see the beams which regulations say you have to see 70 per cent. Some of them have deepened in colour to a rich caramel while others have remained much lighter.

"When it comes to the interior, I hope we have managed to strike the right balance between character and modern day conveniences like the Bose music system running throughout the house.

"My favourite room in the house largely depends on which mood I'm in. If I've had a busy day it might be the study, another time it's the kitchen, dining room and hallway which are all in one. I should say the fully equipped gym is my favourite, but I just look at it a lot," he laughs.

Yasmin is in no doubt which is her favourite room: "It's the kitchen. I'm passionate about cooking and the roof has more than 12 panels of glass. It's at the side of the house so you can watch the sunset. I'm going to miss the whole house. When we looked around at barns all those years ago, many felt dark and oppressive."

Yasmin has put her own stamp on the interior, including a Joola - a hanging chair which she has bolted into the beams. Another innovation was the fact that you sit on the floor to eat in the dining room.

"I love spending time outside and don't want to let the weather put me off, so I devised something to suit my needs, which means the garden is a place to walk around, with sleepers and Yorkshire stone paths. We used 120 tons of Yorkshire stone. Then I hit on the idea of putting in a cave; because you look down on the garden the cave has a rockery on the top, so you don't know it's there, and inside there's a pot-bellied stove. When the sun hits the pond, it reflects on the roof - amazing. I can be out there, nice and cosy, in the snow, the mist or at night."

"The house is phenomenally private," says Kamlesh. "It's right in the village at the front, although there is a cobbled drive large enough for at least seven cars, but at the back there's more than one and a half acres of land and an ornamental garden, so it's like living in the heart of the country.

Yasmin and Kamlesh are going to find it hard to tear themselves away, especially Yasmin who loves the wildlife that visits the garden, including a family of deer.

Kamlesh adds: "It's the kind of house you dream of and design in your head, but for us it's real. It's our home and it's full of influences that reflect us, with items from our travels. I don't think we'll ever find another one like it."

Kipping Barn, Lower Kipping Lane, Thornton, is on the market for £995,000 with Halifax, Bradford, (01274) 733644.