A DEVELOPER has revealed details of its plans to turn a Victorian estate into a boutique hotel, spa and restaurant.
The history of Rayners House dates to 1845 when Sir Philip Rose bought Rayners and Colehatch farms.
Since its former glory days as a country estate the building has fallen into disrepair after becoming empty in 2015 following the closure of a school for deaf children after it fell into administration.
The imposing brick building has remained largely unchanged since the late 1860s.
The revival into a boutique hotel kicked off in 2021 when the new owners purchased the house and grounds from Department of Education and named the project Rayners Penn.
CEO of Rayners Penn Ltd Duncan Ball said: “At the moment we’re working on between 30 to 35 bedrooms in the hotel. It will be luxury boutique hotel.
“There will be a fine dining restaurant which will be fantastic, also a bistro, and a cookery school that will be attached to the kitchens, and we’re also putting in planning for a spa.
“The reality is, if we wouldn’t be putting plans down to restore and renovate it there’s no doubt it would become completely run down – the brick works, the windows are falling out. It’s in a very bad condition, and unless a substantial amount of money is put into it, it would probably be lost forever.”
The vice-chair of Penn and Tylers Green Residents Society Miles Green says the developers have “done very well so far” with transparent neighbour engagement.
Although no planning application has yet been submitted, residents were invited to an initial talk about the hotel plans.
“They’ve played it very square at the moment,” Mr Green said.
The Residents Society was instrumental in securing the building’s Grade II listed status around two years ago.
“It’s very unique. The architecture is just beautiful, but it’s obviously very run down,” Mr Ball said.
London-based Jeremy Blake Architects with experience dealing with listed buildings and developments of hotels are currently working on a plan for the site.
A public consultation held in the early summer will invite residents to comment on the proposal before it is submitted to planning, Mr Ball said.
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“This is a long-term relationship with the village, so as a hotel and the village have got to run side by side. Our neighbours are really important to us, and we’ve made sure we’re an open-door development,” he added.
Every tree in the area had a Tree Protection Order on it, meaning the developer wasn’t going to go ahead and cut down any of them, he said.
“We will look to make sure we increase the planting and biodiversity. We’re working with an ecologist to enhance biodiversity so it will be more attractive to nature than it is at the moment,” he continued.
Read more about the history of the building here.
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