Hillersdon House
Coordinates: 50°51′44″N 3°25′39″W / 50.8621°N 3.4276°W
Hillersdon House is a Victorian manor house overlooking Cullompton in Devon, England. It was designed by the notable theatre architect Samuel Beazley. Building work took place from 1848–1852, and it is a Grade II* listed building. [1]
It is built of red brick with Portland stone dressing and a hipped slate roof. It is a two-storey building arranged around a central hall.[2]
The estate was purchased in the late 1840s by W.C. Grant and the current house was built to replace an earlier manor house which was in a dilapidated state.[3]
The history of Hillersdon goes back to Domesday, but the present house was built, in 1848, for Arctic explorer William Grant [4] [5] by the architect, writer and bon viveur Samuel Beazley. Although best known as a theatre architect, Beazley built a few notable country houses, including Studley Castle in Warwickshire, and East Dene at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, childhood home of the poet Swinburne.
Built in the late-Georgian style of mellow brick with Portland stone dressings under a slate roof, Hillersdon House is a theatrical tour de force internally, with the rooms on both floors arranged around a grand, two-storey, galleried reception hall. In the best 18th-century tradition, an enfilade of three exquisitely proportioned main reception rooms (drawing room, dining room and library) has inter-connecting double doors that allow the entire suite to be used as a single space for entertaining. Billy Grant’s hospitality was legendary, and one of his regular visitors was the often-outrageous Edwardian society beauty and writer Elinor Glyn, who recalled ‘floating on the lake at Hillersdon’. The 12 main bedrooms, four bathrooms, nursery and former servants’ wing are all accessed from the dramatic, galleried first-floor landing, with the main domestic offices laid out on the north-east side of the house.
Untouched by modern makeover, idyllic Hillersdon House sits in 175 acres of parkland, lakes, pasture and woodland, looking out across a beautiful private valley towards the Blackdown Hills.
In the 1890s Hillersdon became known for its wild parties. One incident occurred after the Exeter Ball, when four young gentlemen plunged into one of the lakes, and were subsequently washed off in baths of Champagne. Elinor Glyn, a noted society beauty was part of the house party on this occasion. [6]
In 2010 Hillersdon was purchased by International business man Michael Lloyd and has since undergone a complete refurbishment.
References
- ↑ "Country houses for sale in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset". www.countrylife.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ↑ "Hillersdon House, Cullompton". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
- ↑ Mitchell, J.C. (1851). Eight views of Cullompton and neighbourhood together with a concise compilation of explanatory particulars and description. Cullompton: I. Frost.
- ↑ http://www.freezeframe.ac.uk/resources/expeditions/arctic/leigh-smith-eira-expeditions-1880-1881-82
- ↑ http://www.worldthroughthelens.com/ebook-north-west-passage.php
- ↑ Tyzack, Anna (2009-06-05). "Hillersdon House in Devon: a decadent affair - Telegraph". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-02.