The British landscape isn’t short of fine country houses which have been converted into delightful country hotels. Sometimes, though, the process works in reverse, as is the case with the enchanting Backwell House, in North Somerset.
Knight Frank and Burston Cook Bristol are joint agents in the sale of the Grade II-listed, Georgian Backwell House, which stands in 13 acres of immaculate gardens and grounds overlooking open countryside, two miles from the village of Backwell and five miles south-west of Bristol. The agents quote a guide price of £2.995m for the handsome country house built of traditional Bath stone under a slate roof. For those with grander plans — and deeper pockets — there is additional land, three cottages and outbuildings on offer for a further £2m.
As the pictures here show beautifully, Backwell House really is something to behold. The main drive leads past an array of magnificent mature trees to the classic Georgian façade, where the first impression is of a handsome period house set in idyllic countryside.
The ground floor boasts a splendid reception hall, drawing room, dining room, bar/sitting room, breakfast room, conservatory and well-equipped commercial kitchen.
The first floor houses seven beautifully appointed double bedrooms, all of which have bathrooms en suite, with a further two bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor.
There’s also a basement, provides additional space for a home cinema, games room, wine cellar or home office.
The gardens and grounds at Backwell House are a delight, with numerous seating areas from which to enjoy the spectacular views.
Behind the house is the original walled garden with its neat box hedging, fragrant climbing roses, traditional greenhouse, established kitchen garden, wrought-iron arches and espaliered fruit trees.
In front of the house, a pristine lawn leads to a ha-ha, with paddocks and pasture beyond. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool, garaging and separate billiard room.
According to local records, Backwell House was built in about 1813 by Thomas Keedwell, a prominent local lawyer, who advertised it for sale a year later in the following terms: ‘An elegant newly built mansion situated on a gentle eminence highly distinguished for its diversified sea and land views. It has a large walled garden, two stables, two coach houses and other conveniences.’
Backwell House was bought by the Sparrow family of nearby Flax Bourton, who rented it to a number of gentry families until 1861, when it was sold with 42 acres of land to John Robinson, a manufacturer of seed oil whose company later became part of British Oil and Cake Mills.
Robinson’s six sons were keen cricketers and, from 1878 until 1964, a Backwell House XI, formed by the Robinson boys and their cousins, played a team from West Town on August Bank Holiday. Following John Robinson’s death in 1886, Backwell House was inherited by his eldest son, Alfred, who lived there with his family until his own death in 1949.
Backwell House was subsequently acquired by the Hobbs family, who redesigned it as a boutique country-house hotel following an extensive and sympathetic refurbishment in 2016, which earned the establishment a coveted five-star classification from the AA. However, the business failed to survive the covid pandemic and the hotel finally closed its doors in July 2022.
Now armed with permission for a change of use from a hotel to a residential dwelling, Backwell House has been restored to its original role as an elegant country home.
Backwell House is for sale at £2.995m — see more details and pictures.
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