Heckfield Place, Hampshire

Once home to antiquarian Horace Walpole, ‘Heckfield Place’ has been judiciously re-crafted into an ‘effortlessly stylish' countryside hotel with beautiful bedrooms, as well as two restaurants, a private cinema, Little Bothy spa, wine cellar, gardens and Home Farm, centred on sustainability and biodynamic farming principles.

Spratley & Partners completed the dramatic transformation of the 430-acre site in Hampshire into the UK’s most eagerly anticipated, luxury hotel in 2018, after a significant programme of restoration works which began in 2009 for private investment company, Morningside Group.

Later, modern additions to the site, which was being used as a conference centre and wedding venue, were largely unsympathetic and not in-keeping with the original form and layout; the house was extended in the 1980s with a block of bedrooms and conference facilities which were small, basic and required substantial upgrading. The rooms in the listed building had also been subdivided, creating cramped spaces and disrupting the historical plan of the house.

After years of careful restoration and collaboration, this elegant, Grade II listed Georgian house and estate has been brought back to life and sensitively woven into its secluded landscape surroundings.

A lot of care has been taken; the attention to detail is extraordinary. The historic property and grounds have been lovingly restored and future-proofed and we have had the luxury of time to do this. You can feel this when you spend time at Heckfield Place – you can see it in the restored architectural details, the established, fruitful gardens, the complementary interior design – you can even taste it in the quality of the produce we grow, the flavour of which has been perfected over time.

General Manager, Olivia Richli