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Plans for a new home on the edge of a County Durham village have been rejected amid concerns it would be a "visually intrusive" encroachment into the countryside.
The proposal sought permission to build a four-bedroom dormer bungalow with a detached garage on land north of Crookhall Community Centre near Consett.
The scheme also included diverting a public byway which currently runs across the site.
Applicant Debbie Clarke said the 0.09-hectare site is currently used for grazing horses and put forward the development as a self-build four-bedroom home with parking spaces, a garage and garden areas.
Durham County Council officers concluded the single dwelling would extend development into open countryside and would not fit with the existing layout of Crookhall.
A council landscape officer said the proposal would result in the loss of an open field and create an "incursion into the open countryside".
Officers said the new house would stand beyond the main built-up part of the village and would be visible from nearby public rights of way, roads and surrounding countryside.
The report stated that although the design used materials similar to nearby properties, the development would appear out of place and would harm the transition between the village and the rural landscape beyond.
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No objections were received from neighbours and council specialists raised no concerns over issues including highways, contamination, drainage, ecology and public rights of way.
Despite this, officers said those matters did not outweigh the damage they believed the development would cause to the character of the area.
Planning permission was formally refused on October 8.