Heritage organisations want to safeguard the future of one of Ilkley’s most celebrated historic buildings following an announcement it has changed hands again.

The Grade II* listed mansion Heathcote on Kings Road, designed by renowned Arts and Crafts architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, has been listed as sold by property agent Carter Jonas.

The eight-bedroom house, which is set in its own three-acre gardens and grounds, went on sale in 2012 with a guide price tag of just under £2 million.

Chairman of national heritage charity The Lutyens Trust, Martin Lutyens – the great-nephew of the celebrated architect himself – is among those keeping an eye on the house and is keen to discuss its future with the new owner.

The buyer of the house has yet to be revealed and no-one was available for comment this week at Carter Jonas’s Harrogate office.

The most recent Land Registry documents this week listed its 2011 owner as Heathcote Ilkley Limited, of Owler Park Road, Ilkley.

The house, dating from 1906, was sold by service company NG Bailey in 2011 with a £2.5 million price tag, after serving as offices for the firm since 1958.

A planning application to convert it from office use to a single dwelling was given the go-ahead by Bradford Council in May last year. It followed the rejection of a previous plan to turn the villa into two apartments, which attracted opposition from organisations including the Lutyens Trust, Ilkley Civic Society and the Ancient Monuments Society.

Mr Lutyens said the Trust, which works to protect and promote the spirit and substance of the work of Sir Edwin, and other heritage bodies would not want to see a repeat of this process under new ownership.

“It’s one of the most important houses in the whole of Edwin Lutyens’ career,” he said. “It marked the turning point in his style and has many beautiful features.”

“I’m sure English Heritage, as well as the Lutyens Trust, would be delighted to talk to the new owner with a view to finding a safe and secure future from our view.”

Ilkley Civic Society chairman Helen Kidman said the society hoped the sale would go through and a suitable plan would be put forward.

It has also been revealed a £2.4 million bid for the property, made by a Weybridge-based businessman, was declined late in 2012. Alexander Curzon, who wanted to restore and reinstate original period features of the house, was unsuccessful in his bid to buy Heathcote.