What does it take to open a new hotel on the Chatsworth Estate? One 19th century card game, a multi-million pound restoration project and a lot of art, says Amie Elizabeth White.
The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow — which is today part of the Chatsworth Estate, in the Derbyshire Dales — came into the hands of the Devonshire family in the 1830s, via somewhat unconventional means.
In a card game; wagered by the Duke of Rutland and won by the Duke of Devonshire.
The property was remodelled into a hotel during the 1970s and then left untouched until two years ago, when the current Duke and Duchess’s son, William, and daughter-in-law, Laura (Lord and Lady Burlington), kickstarted a £3.5million renovation process.
British interior designer Nicola Harding — whose projects include Beaverbrook and The Mitre at Hampton Court hotels — was called in to breathe new life into the 28 bedrooms, two restaurants, bar, communal areas and corridor after corridor, now filled to the brim with art and antiques and colour and print.
It is the art and the design that set this project apart from its competition. Quite amazingly, nothing ‘new’ was commissioned; instead, Nicola and Lady Burlington, a dynamic design duo if ever there was one, tore through the Chatsworth archives, cherry-picking pieces that they felt would look most at home inside the hotel — and help make the hotel feel like a home.
The finds range from etchings made for the Great Exhibition of 1851, to Jeremy Deller’s striking, contemporary installation that hangs in reception. It reads: ‘You treat this place like a hotel.’ (Coincidentally, this is something my mother has a habit of saying whenever I return home; I’m sure she’s not the only mother to do so…)
The then Hon. Deborah Mitford appeared on the Country Life Frontispiece on March 15, 1941, to mark the occasion of her engagement.
Family photographs line the walls: here, the iconic image of the late Deborah Cavendish (neé Mitford), Duchess of Devonshire, feeding her chickens, dressed in a ballgown; and there, intimate portraits of great artists such as Henry Moore and David Hockney by Jorge Lewinski (1921 – 2008) — who just happened to be Lord Burlington’s photography teacher.
Perhaps, this shouldn’t be surprising. Chatsworth, after all, is a well established haven for art enthusiasts with items amassed by seventeen generations of the family across nearly five centuries. Highlights include artefacts from Ancient Egypt, tapestries of the original Chatsworth House dated to 1550, a marble bust of Alexander the Great, possibly carved during his lifetime between 356-323 BCE, the Duchess Georgiana’s rock collection and paintings.
In 2022, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire staged ‘Living With Art We Love’, featuring favourite
items from their acquisitions over the preceding 40 years.
So very many paintings: Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Singer Sargeant, Freud, grand frescoes that embalm the ceilings. Somehow, the little things are not lost among them. Step inside the Oak Room and you will find small-scale portraits of family dogs through the ages nestling amongst the panels.
There are artworks and exhibitions featuring living artists too, which all help to root Chatsworth in contemporary culture. Earlier this year, space was given over to the full Spring/Summer 2024 Erdem collection which designer Erdem Moralioglu drew inspiration from the late, great Deborah Devonshire when creating. Events such as ‘Classic Ibiza’, a celebration of dance anthems (scheduled for July 12, 2025), is another such example.
This idea of repurposing Chatsworth history to make it relevant for the modern world is not lost on The Cavendish. There are lampshades made from old fire hydrants found in the attics of Chatsworth and the bar was carved out from locally-quarried Mandale fossil stone — the same material as the main House window sills.
It was in the bar that we poured over family photographs, asking a myriad questions about the individuals in them. It felt intimate, almost as if we were looking without permission, but we were assured that the questions were welcomed and, even, encouraged.
The rooms (above) take their names from the people who, at one time or another, exerted influence over the Estate: Mitford, Watson, Brown (Capability, of course) and Paxton. In mine, two tremendous windows offered up breathtaking views of mist-cloaked landscape. And beyond, the famous kitchen garden whose produce supplies so many of the Estate’s outlets, including The Cavendish. Rose petals are used to dye the Chatsworth small batch gin; venison and meat is reared on site and milk from Jersey cows comes from ‘our neighbours Chris and Jane’s farm.’
View of the grounds through the opening of a modern sculpture, part of the ‘Beyond Limits’ exhibition, 2008.
The rest of the gardens, about 105-acres in total, balance form and function. It was the 6th Duke of Devonshire who envisioned the green space as ‘pleasure grounds’ for the public — enlisting Joseph Paxton, in 1826, to make his dreams a reality. They built greenhouses to fill with tropical plants, one of which was so big it required eight coal furnaces to heat it. When the expenses were realised, they blew it up with dynamite, and a piece of the metal foundation, propelled outwards from the explosion, is still lodged in the binding of a book in the library.
Sculptures punctuate borders, beds and viewpoints when you least expect it: Barry Flanagan’s Drummer (1996) — a lively bronze hare beating a tambourine — is a personal favourite because it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit. Like Alice, I would have followed had he come to life. The most striking work — an eight-foot high bronze of a skinned St. Bartholomew, by Damien Hirst (above) — is located in the chapel.
It goes without saying that art is integral to the history of the estate, but more remarkable is the intrinsic role it plays in its present and the way it so clearly informs its future. The Cavendish is now a part of this ethos by inviting you to indulge and engage in the art-filled oasis as much or as little as you please — whatever makes you feel most at home.
Rooms from £200, on a B&B basis. Visit www.cavendishhotelbaslow.co.uk for more information and to book.
