HOLIDAY cottages come in all shapes and sizes, but for novelty and historical value, a restored eighteenth century building between Masham and Ripon must be in a class of its own.

Three years ago, The Ruin at Hackfall, near Grewelthorpe, was living up to, and in grave danger of dying under, its graphically descriptive name. It went unnoticed as saplings took root amid crumbling stonework and a jungle of nettles enveloped its lower walls.

Its condition had deteriorated so alarmingly that part of a central arch over a rear entrance had collapsed and time was rapidly running out for what had once been the largest and most striking of the buildings in the landscaped gardens laid out by William Aislabie at Hackfall in the valley of the River Ure.

The sandstone pavilion was regarded as an architectural prize in terminal decay by the Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity which has just completed its transformation following a £500,000 project involving local craftsmen.

The restoration was funded by grants from English Heritage, Harrogate Borough Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund as well as donations from charitable trusts and individuals.

Stonemason John Maloney, of Ripon, and Bernard Thwaites, of CAT Builders at Well, near Bedale, were employed by the Maidenhead-based trust to replace and restore masonry, rebuild the collapsed arch and its associated dome, reconstruct the roof and incorporate surviving pieces of joinery into the restoration.

The building, which will have one of the most dramatic views to be found anywhere in North Yorkshire, will now be available for self-catering holidays all year round for up to two people who can use a living room and kitchen in the central section, with a separate bedroom and bathroom in two former parlours.

The resulting income will pay for continuing maintenance of the Grade II* building, designed by Aislabie on one side as a classical banqueting house and on the other as a Romanesque ruin towering over the gardens' natural features of rocky crags and the tumbling Ure.

For 130 years, Hackfall was a mandatory stop on any tour of Northern gardens by those with money, carriages and time to spare. The artist Turner went there to sketch in 1772.

Less than a century ago, Aislabie's pavilion was considered the most spectacular tea shop in the country as day trippers arrived to savour the panoramic views across to Sutton Bank, but it and other Hackfall buildings were abandoned in 1932 when many large houses and estates were in decline.

In 1989, the Woodland Trust took out a 999-year lease on Hackfall, designated Grade I on the English Heritage register of parks and gardens of historic interest. Mowbray Point, on which The Ruin sits, was then leased to the Landmark Trust.

The pressing need to raise thousands of pounds as quickly as possible while the remains of the dilapidated building were surrounded by scaffolding was not the only issue affecting the restoration project. There are working farms in the area and preliminary investigations by architects and archaeologists were delayed by the aftermath of the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, which made it difficult for experts to get on site.

Landmark Trust spokeswoman Katherine Oakes said: "It has taken a very long time, but we are delighted at how it has finally turned out.

"The restoration has been done in two phases and there has been some excellent work done over the past 18 months by local craftsmen to stitch the building, including the collapsed dome, back together again.

"We think the building is now as close as possible to how it would have appeared about 240 years ago. The interiors had almost completely gone, but what evidence remained has been used to restore what is seen today.

"The blue colour used for the internal walls is based on an analysis of remaining traces of paint from some surviving joinery. From a building analysis and a remaining fanlight, we were able to establish how such features as the ceiling cornices would have looked.''

Architect Andrew Thomas, from Hereford, said the integrity of the building had been respected by keeping the historical arrangement of three separate rooms.

Mr Thomas, who has done work for the Landmark Trust for 20 years, said: "The basic philosophy was to get it right, and historical integrity has taken precedence over cheapness or convenience for living in the building.

"The walls are about a metre thick, with oak bonding beams built in, but some of the masonry had been washed away and the first thing was to get the walls structurally stable again. It is a relief to see it finished. The building will now be used, and kept warm and dry, and we hope it may give some encouragement to the project eventually to restore the gardens themselves."

Despite its smart new look, the building will still be known as The Ruin. Ms Oakes said: "The trust pondered what it should be called, and wondered whether anyone want to stay in a place with such a name, but the whole point of the name in the eighteenth century was fashionable irony, given the comfort enclosed by its exterior."

The pavilion is the 181st building converted by the Landmark Trust for holiday use. Others include the Culloden Tower in Richmond, an old hospital at Skipton and a former pig sty designed in neo-classical fashion at Robin Hood's Bay.

The restoration is only one part of a wider Hackfall project. The local Hackfall Trust, founded in 1988, hopes to win funding from the national lottery heritage fund to help return the overgrown gardens to their former glory.