| Park Place | |
|---|---|
 Park Place, Berkshire | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Residential |
| Location | Berkshire, United Kingdom |
| Completed | 2011 |
| Owner | Andrey Borodin |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 55,446 sq. ft |
Park Place is a historic Grade II Listed country house and gardens in the civil parish of Remenham in Berkshire, England, set in large grounds above the River Thames near Henley, Oxfordshire.
Lord Archibald Hamilton bought the estate in 1719 from Mrs Elizabeth Baker and built a new villa on the site. [1] Frederick, Prince of Wales (father of King George III) bought the house from Lord Archibald in 1738. [1]
The estate was purchased by Henry Seymour Conway in 1752 [2] and he made extensive improvements. [1] Humphrey Gainsborough, brother of the artist Thomas Gainsborough, designed Conway's Bridge, built in 1763 at Park Place. The rustic arched stone structure close to the River Thames was built with stone taken from the ruins of Reading Abbey [3] and still carries traffic on the road between Wargrave and Henley-on-Thames. [4]
Henry Hawkins Tremayne visited Park Place in 1785 whilst touring various gardens in southern England. He enthused about the garden, being especially impressed by its subterranean passages, menagerie, temples and "Rustick" bridge. These provided inspiration for his own new garden, now better known as the Lost Gardens of Heligan. [5]
In 1797, following the death of Conway, the estate was bought by James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury who auctioned the estate in 1816 with the main lot (mansion & park) being purchased by Henry Piper Sperling. [1] In 1824 Henry Sperling exchanged the estate for Norbury Park, Surrey, with his cousin Ebenezer Fuller Maitland of Shinfield Park, Berkshire. He erected The Obelisk in memory of Queen Victoria's accession, also known as the Victoria memorial – originally the late 17th century spire of St. Bride's, Fleet Street, designed by Christopher Wren. [6]
Ebenezer Fuller Maitland died in 1858 at which point Queen Victoria visited with the intention of purchasing the estate for the Prince of Wales; Ebenezer's wife remained in the house until her death in 1865 when their son William Fuller Maitland took over ownership. An attempt to sell by auction was made in 1866, but the eventual sale took place in 1867. [1] The estate was bought at that time by Charles Easton of Whiteknights, Reading – a speculator, purchased with the intention of dividing the then 800-acre estate. [1]
In 1869 the estate was bought by John Noble (Noble's Paints & Varnishes). The Noble family owned the estate until 1947 when John Noble's son Wilson Noble auctioned the property and land off in a number of lots. [1] The house was bought by the Middlesex County Council and in 1965 ownership was transferred to Hillingdon Council. [1] The house was used as a boarding school for children 11 to 16 with health or emotional problems until 1988 when it was sold to private owners. [1]
The house was purchased by a consortium which looked to develop it into a country club, but failed to gain planning permission from Wokingham Council. Parts of the grounds appear in the 2007 film St Trinian's . [7]
In June 2007 the house was sold to Michael Spink, a founder and owner of SPINK, for £42 million, which made it the most expensive house sale in the United Kingdom outside London at that time. [8]
Spink spent two years restoring the gardens and the main house. Park Place was sold to Russian businessman Andrey Borodin, for a further record of £140 million, making it the most expensive house sale in the United Kingdom, in 2012. [9] Spink retained 300 acres (120 ha) for further development. [10]
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Reading, 7 miles (11 km) west of Maidenhead, 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Oxford and 37 miles (60 km) west of London, near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,186.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan are located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England and are considered to be amongst the most popular in the UK. The gardens are typical of the 19th century Gardenesque style with areas of different character and in different design styles.
Friar Park is a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England, construction began in 1889 and was completed in 1895. It was built for lawyer Sir Frank Crisp, and purchased in January 1970 by English rock musician and former Beatle George Harrison. The site covers about 30 acres, and features caves, grottoes, underground passages, a multitude of garden gnomes, and an Alpine rock garden with a scale model of the Matterhorn.
Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway was a British general and statesman. A brother of the 1st Marquess of Hertford, and cousin of Horace Walpole, he began his military career in the War of the Austrian Succession. He held various political offices including Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He eventually rose to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the three other regattas rowed over approximately the same course, Henley Women's Regatta, Henley Masters Regatta, and Henley Town and Visitors' Regatta, each of which is an entirely separate event.
Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west.
Temple Island is an eyot in the River Thames in England just north (downstream) of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The island is on the reach above Hambleden Lock between the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire banks, and is part of Remenham in Berkshire. The main significance of the island is that it lies at the start of the course for Henley Royal Regatta.
Henley Bridge is a road bridge built in 1786 at Henley-on-Thames over the River Thames, between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The bridge has five elliptical stone arches, and links Hart Street in Henley with White Hill leading up a steep hill to Remenham Hill. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Hambleden Lock and Marsh Lock, carrying the Thames Path across the river. It is a Grade I listed building.
Anne Seymour Damer was an English sculptor. Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment movement, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor.
Conway's Bridge is an ornamental rustic arched stone structure close to the River Thames on the estate of Park Place, Berkshire, England.
Remenham is a village and civil parish on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames opposite Henley-on-Thames in southern England. It is particularly well known for the steep approach, known as Remenham Hill or White Hill, into Henley.
Caversham Park is a Victorian-era stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically located in Oxfordshire, it became part of Berkshire with boundary changes in 1911. Caversham Park was home to BBC Monitoring and BBC Radio Berkshire. The park is listed as Grade II in the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Norbury Park is an area of mixed wooded and agricultural land surrounding a privately owned its Georgian manor house near Leatherhead and Dorking, Surrey. On the west bank of the River Mole, it is close to the village of Mickleham.
The Heligan estate was the ancestral home of the Tremayne family near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England. Purchased by Sampson Tremayne in 1569, the present house was built in 1692 and extended in the early 19th century. The family left the house after World War I, and by the end of World War II the house and gardens had fallen into disrepair. The house and outbuilding were converted into flats in the 1970s and the garden was considered lost, but it was rescued during a televised project in 1996. The Lost Gardens of Heligan are now open to the public as a tourist attraction.
Sambrooke Freeman FRSA was a member of the prominent Freeman family of Fawley Court near Henley-on-Thames, England. He was a Member of Parliament, for Pontefract in Yorkshire from 1754–61 and Bridport in Dorset from 1768–74.
The Reverend Henry Hawkins Tremayne (1741–1829) was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey, with significant interests in the Cornish tin mining industry. He is credited as initiating the creation of the set of gardens around Heligan House that are now well known as the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
Stansted or Steanstead Hall is located in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, East of England, United Kingdom. It was the country seat of the Earls of Essex during the reign of Henry VIII of England.
Ebenezer Fuller Maitland FRS was an English landowner and politician.
Hanover Lodge is a Grade II* listed house at 150 Park Road, London NW1, overlooking Regent's Park. It was designed by the architect John Nash, and built for General Sir Robert Arbuthnot. Since then, it has been home to several notable people, was part of Bedford College, and the residence of the French ambassador, before the businessman and Conservative peer Lord Bagri purchased a 150-year lease from the Crown Estate in 1994. The Russian billionaire Andrey Goncharenko purchased the outstanding lease from Lord Bagri in 2012 for £120 million. In July 2023, Indian billionaire Ravi Ruia paid £113 million for the mansion.
Michael Alastair Spink is a British property developer and founder of SPINK, a British architectural design practice and master builder.