Hayes is situated at the centre of a 52-acre estate, midway between the villages of North End, and East and West Woodhay, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The existing house on the site had been substantially extended over the years to the point that the original farmhouse was entirely engulfed by modern additions. Additionally, a barn to the west of the house was previously converted to provide staff accommodation. The new design by George Saumarez Smith involves the demolition of existing dwelling and barn, and the construction of a new Palladian house and garages, alongside overall improvements to the estate.

The new house is in the tradition of houses designed by Andrea Palladio for agricultural estates near Venice during the 16th century. Palladio’s work, published in his Quattro Libri dell’Architettura, was hugely influential upon English architects of the 18th century. His villas combined the agricultural requirements of a farmhouse with simple classical details and the new house relates strongly to this spirit, with a plan based upon his design for a house at Le Gizzole. The design is also influenced by the countrified English Palladian architecture of the 18th century and the work of John Carr of York, particularly in the use of canted bays to the east and west, which take advantage of the surrounding views.

The new two-storey house combines simple classical details with local materials following the established architectural tradition of the area. Constructed in hand-made red brick with natural stone for the southern portico and slate roofing, the dwelling relates to the existing stable buildings to the south, as well as neighbouring properties and the nearby West Woodhay House, a particularly fine English Palladian house of the late 17th century. The design also features a new garage building in the Tuscan order, the simplest of Palladio’s five orders, and is designed as an architectural object to be seen framed from a distance, terminating the new avenue approach to the house. Work was completed on site at the end of 2007.