When it comes to ‘Grade A’ hospitality in a unique setting, then Hartwell House, really takes some beating! This Grade 1 listed country house is nestled in the vale of Buckinghamshire, stands in ninety acres of landscaped park, and is crucially filled to the rafters with fantastic art.
The roots of this Grade I listed treasure house turned hotel are Jacobean, its facade is pure Georgian elegance and the interiors are a Rococo confection featuring plasterwork ceilings.
The Great Hall at Hartwell House.
The present house was built for the Hampden family, one member Sir John Hampden MP for Aylesbury, became a national figure in 1635 by refusing to pay ship money, the tax levied by King Charles 1st without parliamentary approval. The present house retains a number of its Jacobean features, with the later addition of Georgian facades and garden buildings, by the likes of James Gibbs, Henry Keene and James Wyatt. It really is a lovely spot, where guests enter by the Great Hall redesigned by James Gibbs between 1739 and 1740, which retains its early seventeenth century dimensions (pictured above)
Pre dinner drinks in the library..
In 1809 Hartwell House was leased to the exiled King Louis XVIII of France and his court, where they stayed until 1814. His wife Marie Josephine of Savoy died at Hartwell in 1810 and is the only french Queen to have died on English soil.
Closer to heaven at Hartwell House.
Hartwell has thirty bedrooms and suites on three floors in the main house, all decorated in the country house style, think deep comfortable armchairs, floral drapes, botanical watercolours..oh and a tin of shortbread for late night snacking! I say empty the tin and then work of the calories by ambling through the 90 acres of English gardens and landscaped parkland, which is deeply romantic and dotted with folllies like the one below.
Folly fun in the extensive grounds at Hartwell House.
Of course, for me, it’s the art at Hartwell that excites. I mean who wouldn't want to rub shoulders with Prince Rupert of the Rhine at breakfast? Or have a nightcap in the company of Beechey and Reynolds? Is there any wonder the Hartwells most famous resident, LOUIS XVIII, only checked out to return to France and reclaim his throne. Thank you ‘Hartwell’ for a right royal weekend and for once again elegantly exceeding my expectations!
The Morning Room with Augusta, Princess of wales - Studio of Jean Baptiste Vanloo (top right)
The Great Hall at Hartwell with Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Studio of Sir Peter Lely (left) Portrait of a Lady, said to be Nell Gwynne, School of Sir Peter Lely (right)
Italianate Landscape in the Morning Room - Studio of Gaspard Dughet.
Caught napping at Hartwell House.
By Nick Cox.
To visit Hartwell House, Oxford Road, Near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Telephone: 01296747444