Say I do: Eynsham Hall, a 135-room Oxfordshire country house hotel and wedding venue, for sale
One of Oxfordshire’s “great country houses”, which is currently used as a 135-room hotel and lavish wedding venue, is for sale after its current owner gave it a £3million overhaul.
Eynsham Hall, a Grade II-listed Edwardian pile is on the site of a 1780 manor house which had a string of illustrious owners – including a London auctioneer and newspaper proprietor; a widowed countess; and the present freeholder’s grandfather, a mining engineer who made his fortune from copper in Portugal – before it was demolished in 1904.
It was rebuilt in Jacobean style with stone fireplaces salvaged from French chateaux, Inigo Jones-style plasterwork ceilings and master wood carvings.
A less than glamorous phase in the building’s history started when the house was taken over in the Second World War and used as a maternity ward for pregnant women evacuated from London, and as a rest stop for American Air Corps officers.
From 1946 the building was used as a Police training academy and then in the Eighties became a conference centre before it was bought by the current vendor in 2005 and redeveloped to become a stylish hotel and wedding venue.
The interiors combine a traditional country house feel with a prestigious art collection including pieces by Banksy, Cornelia Parker, Gavin Turk and Peter Blake.
“It’s an unusual property,” says Jeremy Jones, director of Christie & Co, who are marketing Eynsham Hall. “The opportunity to get somewhere at the gateway to the Cotswolds is very rare, and in addition you have this contrast between the classic exterior and the contemporary interior from the current owner.
Jones says that several hotel and wedding venue operators have already expressed an interest, as well as several investors from the Far East who are drawn by the hotel’s location close to Bicester Village.
The property also comes with planning permission to extend the site, offering potential to add more rooms or upgrade the spa facilities.
However, current owner Richard Upton, deputy chief executive of developer U+I, says he does not have time to focus on upgrading the property further.
“We have taken Eynsham Hall to a new level of turnover and profitability but there is still a lot more potential for this magnificent hotel. Sadly, I am not in a position to dedicate the time to take Eynsham Hall to the next stage. This is a fantastic opportunity for an investor to acquire a gem of a property run by an extraordinary team.”