Devonshire Club linked to Grotto House hotel development

21 May 2018 by
Devonshire Club linked to Grotto House hotel development

The Devonshire Club in London has been linked to the development of Grotto House in Basildon into a 60-bedroom hotel.

Planning applications to West Berkshire Council reveal plans to convert the Grade II-listed, 18th century property into a "high-end" boutique hotel and private members' club, which would be affiliated with the London club.

The hotel would also have a spa, outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, seven lodges and two four-bedroom ‘family houses'.

Overlooking the Thames the grand property was built by Viscount Fane of Basildon Park for his wife, Mary, and later praised in Jerome K Jerome's novel of river travels Three Men in a Boat.

The building has most recently been used as offices, serving as the headquarters of the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM) for 50 years. Dr James Hull purchased the estate in 2008 with the intention to return the property into a home, which proved unviable, and so the property has since sat vacant and is in a "poor state of repair".

Developer SUSD, which also delivered the Curtain hotel and private members' club in London's Shoreditch and the Devonshire Club, is overseeing the £32m project. Sister company SUSD Goring has entered into contract to acquire the site from Dr Hull, subject to planning approval.

Planning documents detail intentions to restore the estate "to its former glory" through a sympathetic restoration to save the asset from further deterioration.

The Devonshire Club launched in a 19th century Regency warehouse in the City of London in summer 2016, following a £25m renovation of the property.

Devonshire Club declined to comment.

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