Haweswater hotel, Cumbria, sold to East Sussex businessman

The 21-bedroom Haweswater hotel in Cumbria has been sold off a guide price of £1.495m.

Located on the banks of Haweswater, the property has been acquired by Stephen O'Sullivan, a businessman from East Sussex. Previous owner Olivier Cavaliere, who bought the hotel in 2007, undertook an extensive refurbishment of the art deco building, which included the addition of six extra bedrooms.

O'Sullivan now plans to create "the perfect wilderness retreat" through further investment.

"There is nowhere quite like it in the country," he said. "The Haweswater has 100 sq miles of nature reserve all to itself. I have stayed there a few times and found the location so tranquil and beautiful; it's like an antidote to the modern world. When you combine that with the wonderful architecture and history of the building, it's unique.

"The Haweswater will become a destination for people who appreciate the Lake District as nature intended, but still want luxury and fine dining, after a day's hiking or mountain-biking."

Dating from 1937, the hotel was built to replace the Old Dunn Bull in Mardale Village, which was flooded to create a reservoir to supply the growing needs of an expanding Manchester.

The hotel was sold on behalf of Cavaliere by Colliers International in Manchester.