thumb Eydon Hall is a

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

stately home near the village of

Eydon Eydon is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, about north-east of Banbury. The village is between 510 and above sea level on the east side of a hill, which rises to and is the highest point in the parish. The parish is bounded ...

, in

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 ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and is currently in use as a private residence.

Architecture

The house, built of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

, remains broadly as it was originally designed, with nine bedrooms and four major reception rooms across two main floors. The top floor, with servants' quarters, is hidden from view by balustrades around the side of the roof, and there is a large basement. The house has a number of unusual features, perhaps the most interesting being that the large portico traditional on such houses is placed at the rear, not the front. Each of the four facades are designed differently, with the west facade having a large semi-circular bow in it to contain an oval drawing room.

History

The site was originally occupied by Eydon Lodge, which was acquired in 1788 for £6,600 by the Reverend Francis Annesley. He demolished the existing building, and employed James Lewis to create the replacement, completed in 1789.The £11m acid test
Ross Clark, ''The Telegraph'', 19 May 2004 Eydon Hall was later owned by Colonel

Henry Cartwright Henry Cartwright (1 September 1814 – 26 July 1890) was a British Conservative Party politician. Cartwright was the second of five children of former Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire Tory and Conservative MP William Ralph Cartwrigh ...

, member of parliament for

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in ...

from 1858 to 1868, who died there in 1890. In 1913 it was taken by Lady Fermor-Hesketh and after that purchased in 1923 by

David Margesson Henry David Reginald Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson, PC (26 July 1890 – 24 December 1965) was a British Conservative politician, most popularly remembered for his tenure as Government Chief Whip in the 1930s. His reputation was of a stern ...

. By 1927 it was occupied by W. G. Waldron, and in 1929 was again announced for sale.''Estate Market'' article in the ''Times'', 24 April 1929 The buyer was

Robert Brand Robert Henry Brand, 1st Baron Brand, (30 October 1878 – 23 August 1963) was a British civil servant and businessman. Early life Brand was born on 30 October 1878. He was the fourth son of the former Susan Henrietta Cavendish and Henry Brand, ...

(later Lord Brand); the house passed to his daughter on his death in 1963. In 1982 it returned to the market, and was eventually purchased by the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse owner/breeder Gerald W. Leigh. After his death, when his widow chose to sell the estate, it returned to the market in 2004 with an estimated price of around £11m. Much to the surprise of the property industry, it sold within two months to video game developer

Chris Stamper Brothers Tim and Chris Stamper are British entrepreneurs who founded the video game companies Ultimate Play the Game and Rare. They first worked together on arcade conversion kits, which were licensed to companies, but later became developer ...

for £17m.

References

{{coord, 52, 08, 37, N, 1, 12, 46, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Northamptonshire Grade I listed buildings in Northamptonshire Grade I listed houses