Little Houghton House is a Grade II*-listed, nineteenth century

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

with parts going back to 1685. The house has been owned by notable people, including

Cecil Davidge Cecil Vere Davidge of Little Houghton House Deputy lieutenant, DL (14 February 1901 – 27 January 1981) was a British lawyer and academic, who served as a Oxbridge Fellow, Fellow and bursar of Keble College, Oxford, and as High Sheriff of N ...

and

Christopher Davidge Christopher Guy Vere Davidge, of Little Houghton House, OBE DL (5 November 1929 – 22 December 2014) was a British rower who competed in the Summer Olympics three times in 1952, 1956 and 1960 and won the Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta ...

, both of whom served as

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

and Deputy Lieutenants of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

History

Little Houghton House was built initially in 1685 as a summerhouse for the Ward Family following their support for

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

. The Ward family owned it continuously until the 1800s when Christopher Smyth bought the House from the last remaining Wards living at the house for his nephew William Tyler Smyth. Smyth was a descendant of the Smyths of Elkington Hall who had settled at that house since the middle 14th Century. Smyth renovated and enlarged the house in 1825 making it a north-east park facing house, using Kingsthorpe stone and stone from

Horton Hall Horton Hall, known locally as Horton House, was a stone-built Georgian stately home, now demolished, located on a 3,764 acre estate stretching across nine parishes on the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire borders. History The earliest entry fo ...

. By descent, William Tyler Smyth passed the house to his eldest son, William Smyth who served as

, and died without children so it went to his younger brother, the Rev. Christopher Smyth, Vicar of Little Houghton, then to his son Christopher Smyth who also served as High Sheriff. Christopher Smyth only had daughters however, so the house and estate went to his eldest daughter Ursula Catherine and her husband Cecil Vere Davidge who also served as

. Davidge was himself a descendant of both the Smyths of Elkington and also of the Wards of Little Houghton. On Cecil Vere's death in 1981, the house passed to his son Christopher Guy Vere Davidge who followed his father as

. Following the death of Christopher Davidge, the house was put up for sale in 2016 by the estate agents Fisher German and was bought by the present owners, the Strowbridge Family.

References

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External links

Fisher German Case Study
Country houses in Northamptonshire Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District