Rossendale Council approved plans for work at the derelict Horncliffe Mansion in Bury Road, Rawtenstall.
Dating from 1851, the listed building was previously used by wealthy businessmen as a home, a nursing home and a hotel, but was closed and abandoned in 2007.
Since then it has been a magnet for vandalism and anti-social behavior, with fireplaces being stolen and several fires occurring over the years.
As well as being approved for the restoration of Horncliffe Mansion, which is to be converted into a four-bedroom house, with a number of planning conditions, two “luxury” four-bed houses will also be built on the mansion's former car park.
Documents submitted with the plans state: “Since purchasing the Horncliffe Mansion site in 2022, the applicant has taken significant positive steps to return the site to beneficial use.”
The dilapidated mansion was set on fire several times “In 2024, the applicant commenced a roof, masonry and floor restoration program to restore the bracing and lateral stability of the structure and take the first steps towards weatherproofing the building for the first time in six years. “
Each new building will have four parking spaces, with at least ten remaining for the main building.
The plans for the main house continue: “Due to the total loss of the original interior and all of its features, it is proposed that the interior be restored using more modern materials and avoid a pastiche-failed recreation of the original as we simply do not have these. “ Detailed to be able to recreate the interiors as they once were.
“A friendly style is adopted from that time.
“The interior layout is intended to return to what would have originally existed: large main rooms at the front, service rooms at the rear around a large central staircase.
“It is believed that this is the most preferred route, as opposed to converting the building into apartments or something similar.”
A planning officer's report said the new buildings would be classed as an unsuitable green belt development, but the applicant had requested “very special circumstances” for the building, saying they were essential to funding the restoration of the manor house with a specialist from the Consultants consulted by Rossendale Council agreed.
The report added: “The development would bring about the full restoration of Horncliffe Mansion and ensure its long-term preservation as such.”
“The conservation benefits of the project as such are of considerable importance, as the building would be completely renovated and future preservation would be accompanied by the building being a private home again.”
It added that the plans would also bring visual benefits to the area and that the benefits “significantly outweigh any other harm identified”.
Planning permission was granted with 27 conditions, including rules on construction time and materials, that none of the new buildings can be occupied until the restoration of Horncliffe Mansion is complete, and several to protect wildlife, including bats and badgers.
Horncliffe House – as it was then known – was built for businessman Henry Hoyle Hardman, owner of Rawtenstalls Hardman's Mill.
It was sold by the Hardman family to Rowland Rawlinson in 1903 before being purchased by Lancashire County Council in 1969 to be used as a nursing home until it was sold again in 1993 and converted into a hotel and renamed Horncliffe Mansion, then becoming a ballroom added.
In 2007 the property was closed and abandoned and suffered a small fire, water damage and vandalism, with decorative fireplaces being stolen, before being purchased by property developer Jamie Carter in 2008.
Plans to convert it into a house were rejected before the gatehouse was sold for residential use in 2013 and the mansion was sold for £280,000 but remained derelict.
Another fire occurred in 2016, causing paint destruction in 2018, before a major fire in 2019 that destroyed most of the interior structures and caused significant water damage to the property from firefighting.
The mansion was purchased again in 2022, with work almost completed to convert the ballroom into a twin bedroom, and subsequent approval for demolition and refitting of the interior floor and wall structures.
The plans were approved in November.