An estimated £42m will be spent on repairs to Wentworth Woodhouse, a grand 18th-century Grade I-listed home in South Yorkshire, over the next 15 to 20 years, according to the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The trust, which bought the property in late March after a sustained campaign to save it, plans to open the main interiors and gardens to the public.
The trust—which was initiated by the conservation group Save—bought the residence, often referred to as the largest private home in the UK, for £7m. The National Heritage Memorial Fund donated half of the money needed to buy the 83-acre estate, and various other charitable organisations, including the Art Fund, came up with the rest.
As well as opening the house to the public, the trust plans to convert the stables and their surrounding buildings into spaces for small businesses, host special events in the north wing, and create 15 residential properties in the south wing and ancillary buildings.
The stately home, which boasts elements of both baroque and Palladian architectural styles, was built for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, between 1735 and 1750. At more than 180m, the East front is considered to be the longest of any English country house.
Marcus Binney, an architectural historian and the executive president of Save, calls the sale “a triumph against all the odds”. He says: “It has taken five years of sustained hard work to secure support, but we have learned over the past 40 years that however hopeless or impossible the battle for a great historic building may seem, we should never give up.”