Luton Hoo is an

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

and

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

near

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

and

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of

Hyde, Bedfordshire Hyde (also known as The Hyde) is a civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire. It lies just south-east of Luton. Most of the land to the west of the River Lea is occupied by the Luton Hoo estate, which includes West Hyde. To the east of the r ...

. The

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. An original

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

on the site belonged to the de Hoo family until the 1450s, when inherited by the heiress

Anne Hoo Lady Anne Boleyn (née Hoo; 1424 – 6 June 1485) was an English noblewoman, noted for being the great grandmother of Anne Boleyn and therefore the maternal great-great grandmother of Elizabeth I of England. She was the only child of Thomas H ...

, wife of

Geoffrey Boleyn Sir Geoffrey Boleyn (1406–1463; also Jeffray Bulleyn, Bullen, etc.) was an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London from 1457 to 1458. He purchased the manor of Blickling Hall, near Aylsham, in Norfolk from Sir John F ...

. The manor remained a property of the

Boleyn family The Boleyn family was a prominent English family in the gentry and aristocracy. They reached the peak of their influence during the Tudor period, when Anne Boleyn became the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII, their daughter being the ...

until Anne's grandson

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford KG KB ( – 12 March 1539), of Hever Castle in Kent, was an English diplomat and politician who was the father of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, ...

sold it to a wealthy

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

. The manor changed owners several times until it was inherited by the politician Francis Herne in the early 1750s. A decade later, Herne sold the manor to the

prime minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the ...

. Bute financed the construction of the present house from 1767 to 1774. His grandson

John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, Knight of the Thistle, KT, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (10 August 1793 – 18 March 1848), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1794 and 1814, was a wealthy Scottish aristocrat and industrialist in Ge ...

financed a redesign of the house in the early 1830s, which added a massive

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

to Luton Hoo.

History

Pre-1762

The manor of Luton Hoo is not mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, but a family called de Hoo occupied a

on the site for four centuries, until the death of Thomas Hoo, 1st Baron Hoo and Hastings in 1455. The manor passed into the marital family of his daughter,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, married to

, great-grandfather of

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

, Queen of England. Anne's father, Thomas Boleyn, eventually sold the property to Richard Fermour, a wealthy London Merchant.It then passed to the Rotherham family and then the Napier family. Successive houses were built on the site. In 1751, Francis Herne, a member of parliament MP for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, inherited the house from his kinswoman Miss Napier.

Crichton-Stuart

In 1763, Francis Herne sold the

for £94,700 to the 3rd Earl of Bute. Following an unhappy period as Prime Minister from 1762 to 1763, Lord Bute decided to concentrate his energies on his estate at Luton Hoo. The present house was built by the 3rd Earl of Bute to the designs of the neoclassical architect

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

. Work commenced in 1767. The original plan had been for a grand and magnificent new house, but the plan was never fully executed and much of the work was a remodelling of the older house. Building work was interrupted by a fire in 1771 but by 1774 the house, though incomplete, was inhabited. Dr.

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, who visited the house in 1781, remarked: "This is one of the places I do not regret coming to see... in the house magnificence is not sacrificed to convenience, nor convenience to magnificence". Luton Hoo was one of the largest houses for which Adam was wholly responsible. While Adam was working on the mansion, the landscape gardener

Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...

was enlarging and redesigning the park, which was enlarged from about to . Brown dammed the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

to form two lakes, one of which is in size. In the early 20th century, part of the park overlooked by the south-west facade of the house was transformed into formal gardens. In about 1830, the 2nd Marquess of Bute, grandson of the 3rd Earl, transformed the house, to the designs of the architect Robert Smirke (later Sir Robert, 1781–1867), a leading architect of the era. Smirke redesigned the house (with the exception of the south front) to resemble its present form today, complete with a massive

, similar to that designed by Adam but never built. His early work and domestic designs, such as that at

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820 ...

, were often in a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

style; he seems to have reserved his

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style for public buildings such as the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Luton Hoo, neither Gothic nor strictly Greek Revival, is an unusual example of him using a classical style for domestic use, which perhaps he felt would be sympathetic to Adam's original conception. Another addition was the neo-Gothic lodge with Tudor-style windows, and a Norman-style door, imported from an older building. Known as 'Lady Bute's Lodge' it is a Grade II listed building. In 1843, a devastating fire destroyed much of the house and its contents. The house remained a burnt-out shell until after 1848, when the estate was sold to John Shaw Leigh.

Leigh

In 1848, the estate with the burnt-out house was purchased by John Shaw Leigh (d.1871), a

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

solicitor and property speculator,

Mayor of Liverpool From 2012 to 2023, the mayor of Liverpool was the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The office was abolished in 2023 and its functions were replaced with the leader of Liverpool City Council. The mayor of Liverpool was previ ...

in 1841, whose family originated in Lipton, in Lancashire. He married Hannah Blundell-Hollinshead, a daughter of Henry Blundell (1755–1832), Mayor of Liverpool in 1791–1794 and in 1807, owner of Orrell, Blackrod and Pemberton collieries near Liverpool. His father, John Leigh, senior, was a solicitor and land agent to the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

, the major landowner in the Liverpool area, but he also purchased much land in the area for himself on credit. John Leigh was the local agent of the Tory politician Bamber Gascoyne (1758–1824) and secretary of the "True Blue Club", a Tory political club formed in 1818, to support his election organisation. With the coming of the railways to Liverpool in the 1840s, the value of his holdings increased dramatically. It was remarked of John Leigh, Senior:
:"That he had a keen foresight beyond most of his contemporaries into the coming greatness of Liverpool there can be no doubt, but the actuality far exceeded his most sanguine expectations. The railway demands formed an element altogether outside of his calculations however shrewd...The Leighs carried a flair for the timely and well sited purchases of property to a remarkably high degree. And although no doubt their dealings with the railway companies on behalf of the great landowners they represented gave them both an unusual measure of inside information and a degree of monopoly control as vendors of land, the skill with which they made capital from these assets in the early railway age is unusual". Leigh rebuilt the derelict shell in the style and manner of Smirke, rather than to Adam's earlier plan. In about 1863 "there was found a hoard of Roman coins near Luton, on the estate of John Shaw Leigh, Esq., of Luton Hoo. The coins, which must have been nearly a thousand in number, had been deposited in an imperfectly burnt urn composed of clay and pounded shell and consisted of

denarii The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It continued to be mi ...

and small brass, ranging from the time of Caracalla to that of Claudius Gothicus". In 1871 the estate was inherited by his son John Gerard Leigh (1821–1875), who in 1872 married Eleanor Louisa Hawkes (d.1899), a daughter of Thomas Hawkes and widow of Hon. Humble Dudley Ward (1821–1870), a son of

William Humble Ward, 10th Baron Ward William Humble Ward, 10th Baron Ward (1781 – 6 December 1835) was a clergyman who succeeded to the Baron Dudley, Dudley Barony. Early life He was the son of Humble Ward and wife Susannah Beecroft. His paternal grandparents were the Rev. William ...

of Birmingham. She was a close friend of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. John Gerard Leigh died in 1875, only three years after his marriage, childless. He left his money to his wife Eleanor, together with a life-interest in Luton Hoo, with the remainder to his nephew Henry Leigh.Allsopp, Anne, ''A History of Luton: From Conquerors to Carnival''
/ref> In 1883 Eleanor remarried to Christian Frederick de Falbe (1828–1896), the Danish ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, thus becoming known as "Madame de Falbe". She entertained lavishly and during her tenure Luton Hoo began an association with the British royal family. It was in December 1891 that

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his ...

, grandson of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and second in line of the British throne, proposed to his fiancée,

Princess Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emp ...

, at Luton Hoo. Madame de Falbe died in 1899 when the estate reverted to her second husband's nephew, Captain Henry Gerard Leigh (1856–1900), 1st Life Guards, who in 1886 had married Marion Lindsay Antrobus, a daughter of Hugh Lindsay Antrobus. He died one year after having inherited Luton Hoo, leaving an 11-year-old son Lt-Col. John Cecil Gerard Leigh (1889–1963), on whose behalf in 1903 Luton Hoo was sold to Sir

Julius Wernher Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet (9 April 1850 – 21 May 1912) was a German-born Randlord, diamond magnate, and art collector. He became part of the English establishment. Life history Born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Wernher was the son of ...

, the

diamond magnate This is an annotated list of important diamond business magnates. It is in alphabetical order based on last name. {{incomplete list, date=June 2023 * Barney Barnato (1851–1897), British Randlord and diamond magnate * Alfred Beit (1853–1906), A ...

, who had rented it since 1899. John Leigh later lived at Thorp Satchville Hall, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

Wernher

In 1903 the house was bought by Sir

, who had made his fortune from the diamond mines of South Africa. Wernher remodelled the interior to the designs of

Charles Mewes Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and

Arthur Joseph Davis Arthur Joseph Davis (21 May 1878, Kensington, London – 22 July 1951, Kensington, London) was an English architect. Davis studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris in the 1890s. He was the co-partner in the firm ''Mewes & Davis'', with C ...

, the architects of the Ritz Hotel in London. It was at this time that the

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

was added, to increase the amount of staff accommodation. This alteration, coupled with the newly installed

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s was in the Second Empire style of architecture. The lavish redesigning of the interior in the

belle epoque Belle may refer to: People and fictional characters * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people * Southern belle, a stock character representing a young woman of the American South's upp ...

style resulted in a magnificent backdrop for Wernher's famous art collection. The marble-walled dining room was designed to display

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

tapestries, while the newly installed curving marble staircase enveloped Bergonzoli's statue "The Love of Angels". At the centre of the house the massive Blue Hall displayed further tapestries,

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

furniture, and

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

porcelain. Sir Julius Wernher's widow, later Lady Ludlow, added her collection of English porcelain to the treasures of the house. The Wernhers' great art collection, equal to that of the

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

s, their near neighbours at

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, was later further enhanced by the marriage of

Harold Wernher Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, (16 January 1893 – 30 June 1973) was a British military officer and diamond magnate. Life and career Wernher was born on 16 January 1893 the second son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baron ...

, the son of Julius Wernher, to

Anastasia de Torby Lady Anastasia Mikhailovna Wernher (' Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby; 9 September 1892 – 7 December 1977), also known as Lady Zia Wernher, was a German-born Russian-British aristocrat and thoroughbred racehorse owner. She was the el ...

, the morganatic daughter of a member of the former Russian Imperial family, generally known as "Lady Zia". She brought to the collection an incomparable assembly of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

enamels and Russian artefacts, including works by

Peter Carl Fabergé Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (; – 24 September 1920; also known as Charles Fabergé) was a Russian goldsmith and jeweller. He is best known for creating Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and ...

, the Russian Imperial court jeweller. Many of the Fabergé items were stolen in the 1990s. For many years, the collection and the house were open to the public, with the house having undergone a major and hugely successful rejuvenation under the direction of Mrs Lucy Phillips, Lady Zia's granddaughter-in-law, that brought back to life the Russian Chapel and opened up new areas of the house whilst also showcasing more of the Wernher collection. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Wernher family allowed the house to serve as Headquarters Eastern Command. Luton Hoo's estate was used as a tank testing ground for the

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple Bogie#Tracked vehicles, bogies, its ability to ...

s, which were produced in factories in the town of Luton. The Wernhers, by virtue of Lady Zia's sister Nadejda de Torby, were very close to Prince Philip, who along with the Queen, were frequent visitors to Luton Hoo both for public events and private visits. The royal couple spent a number of wedding anniversaries staying at Luton Hoo.

Phillips

Following Lady Zia's death in 1977, the estate passed to her grandson Nicholas Harold Phillips, after whose death in 1991 the house and 1,059 acres were sold by his wife. The Phillips family, descendants of Sir Julius and Lady Alice Wernher, still retain ownership of a significant part of the historic estate running it successfully as a diversified business that is home to commercial and residential tenants as well as restoring the walled garden (see below) and one of the busiest non-studio filming locations in the country. Part of the collection, including works by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

and

Bartolomé Bermejo Bartolomé Bermejo ( 1440 – c.1501) was a Spanish painter who adopted Seventeen Provinces, Flemish painting techniques and conventions. Born in Cordoba, he is known for his work in the Crown of Aragon, including the Principality of Catalonia ...

, was also sold whilst a portion remains together and is now on permanent display at

Ranger's House Ranger's House is a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, adjacent to Greenwich Park in the south east of London. It is situated in Blackheath and backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Previously known as Chesterfield Ho ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London. In 1996 and 1997, the grounds were hired out for the

Tribal Gathering Tribal Gathering is the original British electronic dance music festival that between 1993 and 2004 catered for different types of dance music cultures such as techno, house and drum & bass. After 18 years, Tribal Gathering returns in 2023 for ...

dance music festival and again in 2005, but the latter event was cancelled due to the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

Hotel

The house was converted into a luxury hotel called the Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf, and Spa, which opened in October 2007. It has 228 bedrooms and suites. Part of the restoration project involved rebuilding the second floor of the house, which was included in the plans drawn up by the original architects. The owners, Elite Hotels, say that furnishings have been selected with the aim of restoring the house to its former glory. In December 2021 the hotel was sold to The Arora Group, a UK based hotel and property company.

Walled garden

Luton Hoo Estate also possesses a octagonal

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

which was established by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, in the late 1760s. Successive owners of the estate adapted the garden to match the changing fashions in gardens over the years. Numerous heated glasshouses were built by the Leigh family in the last quarter of the 19th century for the production of fruit and flowers. The largest of the glasshouses, built by the firm of Mackenzie and Moncur for Sir Julius and Lady Alice Wernher, is evidence of the extravagance of the Edwardian period. The garden underwent extensive restoration in 2001–2021, with the help of over 100 volunteers, and is open to visitors and tours every Wednesday from May to October.

Film location

Luton Hoo has appeared in many films including '' A Shot in the Dark'', ''

Never Say Never Again ''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel ''Thunderball (novel), Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Wh ...

'', ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of ...

'', ''

Eyes Wide Shut ''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Dream Story'' () by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from earl ...

'', ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'', ''

Princess Caraboo Mary Baker (née Willcocks; 11 November 1792 (alleged), Witheridge, Devonshire, England – 24 December 1864, Bristol, England) was an English impostor. Posing as the fictional Princess Caraboo, Baker pretended to come from a far-off island kin ...

'', ''

Wilde Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include: In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre * Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor * Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canadian actress * Brian Wilde (1927–2008), British actor * ...

'', ''

The World Is Not Enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent Jam ...

'', '' Quills'', ''

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

'', ''

De-Lovely ''De-Lovely'' is a 2004 American musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with his wife, Linda Le ...

'' and ''

Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a group of Bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in London during the Roaring Twenties. The name was given to them by the tabloid press. They threw flamboyant fancy dress part ...

''. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

the historic farm buildings were used as a location for the

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...

film '' Burke & Hare'', and stood in for Bleeding Heart Yard in the BBC TV series ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...

'' using sets designed originally for the BBC's 2005 BAFTA award-winning ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...

''. On 13 and 14 October 2010, filming of the

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film ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot design ...

'' took place at the Luton Hoo Estate. Luton Hoo stood in for

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, in the film ''

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''. Luton Hoo was also used as a location in the 2020

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film '' Enola Holmes''. British boyband

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" at Luton Hoo. Both the 2017

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and 2021

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release of ''

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'' credit the estate. Luton Hoo Estate is one of the busiest non-studio locations in the country.

References

* Raleigh Trevelyan. ''Grand Dukes and Diamonds: The Wernhers of Luton Hoo'' (Secker & Warburg, 1991)

External links

Website of the hotelLuton Hoo EstateThe Conservatory at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden
{{coord, 51.85463, N, 0.39764, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Houses completed in 1774 1774 establishments in England Country houses in Bedfordshire Hotels in Bedfordshire Second Empire architecture Listed buildings in Luton Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Bedfordshire Gardens by Capability Brown Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom Country house hotels Golf clubs and courses in Bedfordshire John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute