How the great country estates are earning their keep

As Bridgerton’s 110 million viewers worldwide have proved, life behind the scenes of the UK’s famous stately homes – real and imagined – is an eternal source of fascination. For Hampshire’s Grade I listed Highclere Castle, where the ever-popular Downton Abbey was filmed, such global fame has helped secure the future of the 5,000-acre estate, the annual running costs of which are about £1 million.

Filming fees (from £5,000 to £40,000 a day) are just part of it: spin-offs include golf events, a branded product range and monthly book clubs for the Friends of Highclere, who pay a £125 annual membership fee. And while shoots and weddings are among the most popular ways of generating income for our great country houses – Savills has seen an increase of 48% in inquiries from the film industry for super-prime lettings – owners are having to devise ever more innovative ways to open up their historic homes while keeping them relevant in the modern era. 

“Among the more unusual activities I’ve come across are hosting re-enactments or murder-mystery parties – and Hole Park in Kent has a Dirty Rotten Scramble trail run,” says Phillippa Dalby-Welsh, head of Savills Country Department.

The 470-year-old Chatsworth in Derbyshire – immortalised as Mr Darcy’s home in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice – has had a rebrand, changing its logo from the imposing Palladian façade to a snake motif found in the house, and hiring director Jane Marriott to devise a five-year creative programme.

Not all events are about generating finances: sometimes it’s nurturing links with the local community. “The families behind these homes see themselves as custodians – they know the house, the estate and the history are far more important than the individual, so they often make significant sacrifices to ensure the estate survives,” says Crispin Holborow, joint head of Savills Private Office.

“Laverstoke Park in Hampshire lets out some of its land to the local rugby club and welcomes children into its kitchen garden. Interest in traditional gardening has led to volunteers working for free in exchange for learning from experts and taking home surplus produce in lieu of payment.”

Having a restaurant on site helps anchor an estate in people’s affections, too, whether it’s “buying the local pub to increase the attractiveness of the area”, says Holborow, “or, at the other end of the scale, turning the stalls in a stable block into tea and coffee booths”. Or, indeed, having a garlanded restaurant such as The Dining Room at Hambleton Hall in Rutland Water, which has held a Michelin star for 43 years.  

It helps, too, that some of the heirs to our stately homes are fully paid up members of Gen Z and share the digital nous and environmental priorities of a younger audience. George Spencer-Churchill, the 32-year-old heir to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, has come up with a 10-year plan that includes building high-quality affordable housing and installing green energy sources across the estate. And 30-year-old Perry Pearson, heir to the Cowdray Estate in West Sussex, is building upmarket treehouses for holiday lets.

Grand country estates are usually passed down through the generations, but occasionally one comes up for sale – such as Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire, which was handled by Savills. “When you have vast acres, there’s much more chance that you have a mixture of property assets to provide income, but Wentworth Woodhouse had no land to support it and had fallen into disrepair,” says Holborow. Now owned by a preservation trust, it has begun an ambitious regeneration plan that includes community engagement and education projects.

Opening up your country house, however, comes with some compromises. “For the private owner, the benefits of income-producing ventures need to be carefully balanced against factors such as privacy and the administrative requirement of setting up and running a commercial or community venture,” says Dalby-Welsh.

Today, many buyers in the country market want a rural home as a gathering place for dispersed family and for sporting pursuits such as polo or shooting. Some want to be in deep countryside; the rest want to be close to “something like Soho Farmhouse and Daylesford”, says Holborow. That might include Hill Top House in Bourton-on-the-Hill, a Victorian manor with 35 acres of land.

For those with an entrepreneurial side, houses with ample acres for community-building causes – from literary festivals to wellness or sporting events – include Hou Hatch, an 18th-century manor set in 35 acres near Brentwood in Essex, with equestrian, agricultural and fishing opportunities. 

Or there’s Wood Hall, near Radlett, Hertfordshire. The 423-acre equestrian and sporting estate has seven cottages, plus further residential development potential.

Owners are finding all manner of ways to make country houses relevant in the 21st century, turning heritage into vibrant cultural and creative hubs for the community to enjoy.

CRISPIN HOLBOROW, SAVILLS PRIVATE OFFICE
+44 (0)7967 555 511

PHILLIPPA DALBY-WELSH, SAVILLS COUNTRY DEPARTMENT
+44 (0)2073 308 659