Historic Crathorne Hall Hotel in Yarm, North Yorkshire, has unveiled a £4m restoration, one year on from the fire that badly damaged the east wing.
After a year of intensive rebuilding and refurbishment, Julia Hands, chairman and chief executive of Hand Picked Hotels, owners of Crathorne Hall Hotel, and Lord Crathorne, whose family owned the Edwardian country house for more than 70 years, joined Peter Llewellyn, general manager, and the team to celebrate the restoration during a ceremony on 1 October.
Hands, a former lawyer who runs the award-winning Hand Picked Hotels collection, with 21 hotels across the UK and the Channel Islands, said: “The restoration of Crathorne Hall is magnificent and is the result of an excellent team effort by everyone involved at the hotel. We remain indebted to the fire services for saving an important part of the history and landscape of this part of North Yorkshire and are very proud that the hotel takes its place once more as a wonderful place to meet and to stay.”
In consultation with English Heritage and Hambleton District Council’s planning and conservation officer, a team of specialist craftsmen worked on refurbishing and restoring grand architectural features. Specialised structural techniques were employed to extend doorways and openings to create more space. In the former nursery, an old stove was discovered which nannies would have used to heat the iron for pressing clothes. This has also been preserved and incorporated as a feature.
The York and Ormesby bedroom wings have been rebuilt, using traditional lath and plaster to restore the ceilings. Fireplaces were uncovered and restored within some of the bedrooms.
As part of the exterior restoration, slate was hand cut to match the existing roof and installed by tilers, one section at a time to ensure the coursing was aligned. IT connectivity has also been improved as part of the refurbishment work.
The hotel’s 37 bedrooms are now all available for bookings. Function rooms include the newly refurbished County Suite, with room for 60 people, the Drawing Room, with capacity for 100 people, the Edwardian Room, with room for 90 people, and the Presidents’ Lounge, suitable for boardroom or dining events for up to 28 delegates. Bookings are now being taken for weddings, Christmas, special occasions, business conferences and leisure stays.
Crathorne Hall, which has four AA Red Stars, has a rich history and was the largest country house built during the reign of Edward VII for the Dugdale family. Distinguished visitors to Crathorne Hall have included The Queen Mother, The Prince of Wales and Prime Ministers Sir Anthony Eden, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and Harold Macmillan.
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