It was with excitement and trepidation that we took on the challenging task of restoring Little Houghton House, LHH as we call it.

Although, at a glance, the house seemed to be in reasonable repair, it had not been maintained or modernised for many years. Luckily the structural fabric of the house was in good order but the roof, stonework and windows were all in need of total restoration, not a small task considering we had over 80 old Georgian sash windows to take out, fix, and reinstall - particularly when the 2nd floor is over 70 ft high!

The garden, parkland and lake were also in need of significant attention and a major overhaul was required to allow them to blossom once again. The beautiful stone perimeter wall & garden ha-ha were in disrepair and needed the attention of our stone masons to stop them from crumbling and falling down.

The entire project was quite a task and we had to take a deep breath a few times not to feel overwhelmed by what we’d taken on.

Suffice to say that we sought help and advice from a great team of professional advisors and craftsmen to assist us with the project. We hired a specialist historic buildings archeologist to conduct a study on the evolution of the house and grounds - it was fascinating to learn how the various elements of the house had developed over the years and in line with the fortunes of its previous owners. In addition, we worked closely with the listed buildings officer at the council, as well as the planning office and a specialist architect who helped us design and integrate the restoration both inside and outside the house. After all, we see ourselves as custodians of the house - a place that means a lot to us but also to the village and to the history of the local area.

We purchased the house in July of 2018 from the Trustees of the Davidge Usher Trust and the restoration work began almost immediately. Once we secured the necessary permissions, and under the watchful eye of our project manager, our stunning home started its transformation. 18 months of hard work continued through the glorious days of summer and through the depths of winter - thank goodness for the warm site hut and hot coffee each morning!

Every room was completely refurbished, new plumbing, electrics (including Control 4) and a cinema room were installed. The cellar was restored and the old ‘oars’ room (the previous owner was an Olympic rower), was converted into a beautiful new kitchen. A bright and airy dog room was created for our precious Spaniels; Pip, Teddy and Pea from a dark and long-forgotten store room at the end of the old laundry block.

As lovely as all these rooms are, our proudest achievement has to be the restoration of the library. Unusually, the library was virtually untouched and the contents almost completely intact when the house was purchased. Only a couple of books had been lost due to a donation to Oxford university by the Trustees. A hand-written catalogue left by one of the previous owners provided a great starting point in identifying what we had in our care. Through our team of expert advisors we were put in touch with two book restorers, Caroline & Louise who spent six painstaking months cleaning, repairing and making supports for the various volumes in the collection. The library is now our favourite room in the house - the muted sound of the books providing the perfect place for those moments when only peace and quiet will do!

The stable block to the west of the main house found new life as a gym and spa with an office complex above. The workshop, storeroom and gardener’s storeroom in the stable yard were also restored along with the pretty Victorian greenhouse in the walled vegetable garden near to the house. The pretty but traditional flower garden was transformed into a new Mediterranean garden complete with a 100 year old olive tree - it was so heavy it had to be craned into position over the walls and the old dairy!

We finally finished the restoration in November of 2019 and moved in just a few weeks later.

In 2020, just after Covid came upon us all, we started work on a new garage block in the old walled vegetable garden and later (in 2023) installed an outside swimming pool in the sunny area by the Victorian greenhouse. The old village well has been recently restored and a new flock of Herdwick sheep have taken up residence in the parkland.

It has been a challenging but entirely rewarding project. Our objective has always been to retain the character and charm of the old building whilst making it a 21st century warm family home. The house and gardens have given us so much pleasure over the last five years and we sincerely hope that visitors to the house enjoy it as much as we do.

Little Houghton House gardens is open once a year as part of the NGS Open Gardens.