Langstrothdale, Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire

• Project cost £739,000
• Funding is now complete for this project
• The restoration is now underway

Cowside is special both for its remote setting deep in Upper Wharfedale and for its rarity as an unaltered vernacular farmhouse. The house stands on a grassy shelf on a steep gritstone hillside facing south onto the fell which, long ago, provided summer grazing to cattle from Fountains Abbey.

Cowside is a fine example of Yorkshire vernacular architecture, built by a prosperous Dales farmer. We are still finding out about its history. In 1682, Jane and Frances Slinger farmed there. Building archaeology suggests that the house dates from around this time, though it includes fragments re-used from an earlier building. Tenants succeeded each other through the eighteenth century. By 1900, the Beresford family was living there and the building's history comes within living memory: days when the postman blew his whistle and left a white stick sticking out of the field wall to signal that he had left a letter in a crack, and when the fire in the inglenook range was always alight.

The farmhouse has a hall and parlour with chambers above. The hall would have been the principal heated room in which most of the life of the house - including cooking and eating - was carried out, all around its fine inglenook fireplace. With an unusual two-storey service wing of dairy, wash-house and storage rooms, and two cowsheds, a detached pigsty and privy, Cowside presents an unusually complete example of a seventeenth century farmstead.

Even in its current ruinous state it is easy to imagine the generations of hardy Dales' folk leading their daily lives through winter gales and summer sun in this sturdy house. There could be no better place to experience the beauty of the sweeping Dales in their grandeur and detail.

Why does Cowside need Landmark's help?

Cowside has stood empty for generations, even in 1954, its listing survey described the house as ?derelict and dangerous'. As with many buildings we have rescued in the past, remoteness has led to decline.

In 1989, Cowside was acquired by the National Trust as part of the surrounding estate now in its care. They instituted emergency repairs but approached us for help knowing future use as a Landmark to be the only option to save a building in such unspoilt surroundings. The quality of the building's vernacular detailing, its magnificent setting and its obvious need for a sympathetic new use made it easy for us to accept the challenge.

Repair of the building will require us to draw on the skills of traditional craftsmen of the highest order, taken for granted when the farmstead was built. Today, projects like Cowside are needed to keep these skills alive, particularly in remote areas like the Dales.

We are pleased to announce the completion of fundraising for Cowside thanks to a very generous legacy from the estate of Mrs Sylvia Chapman. This legacy is wonderful news for the plight Cowside and for all those who have given their support to the building. We can now turn our attentions to the restoration plans much earlier than we expected, and look forward to bringing you more news when restoration work begins on this fragile building.

Our Cowside appeal was launched in May 2007 with £50,000 already secured from legacies. From the outset we received a tremendous level of support, for which we are very grateful. The appeal prompted donations from more than 2,000 individuals and trusts. One generous donation led us to establish the Guardians of Cowside, for those whose hearts were touched by the plight of this Yorkshire building and who were able to donate a similar sum. Preliminary work has now started.

We grateful to all who have brought us to the starting post with this project - and, particularly, Mrs Sylvia Chapman. Its new use as a Landmark for five people to holiday in, will secure its future and preserve its history.

Please visit Supporting Landmark or contact the Development Office for further information on how you can support our other appeals.

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