Game of Thrones couple Kit Harington and Rose Leslie given green light to renovate Tudor pad

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Game of Thrones couple Kit Harington and Rose Leslie have been given the green light to renovate their moated Grade II-listed £1.75m home in time for the arrival of their first child.

The thespian couple have been told they can create a new kitchen and install a trendy bath tub in a bedroom at the 16th century farmhouse in Suffolk. 

The work will include a theatrical kitchen complete with wood-burning stove and showpiece central island, a part of the project which alone will cost about £100,000. 

Planning documents submitted to Babergh District Council show the latest plans are ‘part of an ongoing programme of sensitive works to the house and grounds.’

Kit and Rose – believed to be expecting their first child early next year – wish to move their current kitchen from the northern end of the house to a 1960s extension and remove an Aga, replacing it with a wood burning stove.

In planning documents submitted to the council, a spokesman for DJA Planning says: ‘This space is much better suited to accommodate a kitchen to meet modern requirements with minimum impact on the fabric of the property.

‘The ‘old’ kitchen can then be used as an occasional dining room and extension to the existing functions of the rooms which lead into the space, ie. utility.’

On the first floor, Kit and Rose wish to remove modern cupboards ‘to better reveal the original proportions of the rooms.’

They also wish to run plumbing to one of their larger bedrooms to allow for a freestanding bath.

A report adds: ‘New plumbing is proposed to this larger bedroom which will require running pipes under the floorboards.

‘These will follow the existing runs to the radiators with two discrete holes cut into one floorboard to accommodate a floor mounted tap to serve a freestanding bath.

‘Bath waste will run in new pipework towards the northern wall where a discrete hole will be cut to accommodate the waste pipe.

‘The external works will match those elsewhere on the building which have also been painted to match the existing painted finish of the rendered parts of the property.’

New pipes will be fitted to take bath waste and a soakaway will also be added in the couple’s garden.

The couple were granted permission for a new heating system at their home in Brettenham, Suffolk, earlier this year.

However when work began it later transpired that there were some damp problems at the historic home.

Decay was found to window seals in the current dining room and standing water was also discovered between cavity walls due to blocked and insufficient drains.

A design statement added: ‘On further inspection it was apparent that the wood on the window seals was oak laminate, and the decay was due to a cavity between the internal and external wall resulting in moisture impregnating the laminate.

‘Due to the need to protect the heritage fabric of the building, it is proposed to create another soak away to drain water away from the property to prevent further decaying of the structure and thus ensure it’s stability and longevity.’

In planning documents, a spokesman for DJA Planning added: ‘All of the above works have been heritage led and with a view to balancing those requirements with that of facilitating modern living in a building of heritage significance.

‘The works have been carefully considered in order to maximise the use of the existing space in order to achieve a better internal layout of uses.

‘Existing rooms have been repurposed and existing utility runs will be re-used wherever possible and where works are required they will be kept to a minimum and made good in materials to match when required.

‘Consequently, there will be no impact on heritage significance as a result of the proposed internal and external works the subject of this planning and listed building consent application and we trust, therefore, the works can be supported.’

Rose Leslie recently explained that she and Kit have been isolating at their East Anglian manor house, which she jokingly referred to as ‘the house that Jon Snow built.’

She added: ‘It’s incredibly old. We have a thatched roof, which currently has an enormous hornet’s nest in it.’

GoT hero John was famed for saying ‘Winter is Coming’ in the series which finished last May.

The slogan is in reference to the harsh winters in the North where House Stark are from and the risk of the White Walkers returning.

Rose played his on screen love Ygritte and the pair bought the farmhouse, which sits in eight acres of land, in 2017.

The latest plans were approved by the council at the end of October.

Case officer Harry Goodrich said: ‘The work is in parts necessary to help sustain the fabric.

‘All the work proposed is sensitive, limited in scope and will in no instance harm the significance of the farmhouse – and as such will accord with the Local Plan policies. It is for these reasons I do not object.’