A Grade-II listed former country house near Bath has been put on the market with a £8m price tag more than three years after the business that turned it into a one-time thriving serviced office complex went into receivership.
Hartham Park Estate near Corsham is currently used by a number of small firms, having been redeveloped by its previous owner over the past 25 years into an upmarket business location.
At one time home to some of the area’s fastest-growing tech firms – who were attracted to its rural setting close to the M4 - the estate is set in nearly 50 acres of parkland.
The buildings on the site total 67,763 sq ft of accommodation, including the historic mansion house, which dates back to the late-18th century, as well as a coach house and stable block and a modern office/reception building.
The office accommodation is made up of around 70 individual office units, with seven meeting rooms, a cafe and other facilities.
The estate has been brought to market by property agents Christie & Co and Strutt & Parker on the instructions of London-based administrators Kroll Advisory.
Kroll was appointed in March following the estate being run by around two years by receivers following the failure of previous owner Hartham Park Ltd with debts of more than £2.8m.
Christie & Co and Strutt & Parker said, subject to obtaining the statutory planning consent, the property could suit a variety of alternative uses, including a hotel.
The house was designed by eminent architect James Wyatt for the James family, which had owned the land for more than four centuries.
Having passed through the hands of a number of families, including John Poynder Dickson-Poynder, who was High Sheriff of Wiltshire and MP for Chippenham.
During his ownership he had an enclosed court for Stické tennis – a cross between lawn tennis, real tennis, and rackets – built, which still stands – one of only three that remain playable in the world.
Christie & Co director Ed Bellfield said it was rare a property of the magnitude of Hartham Park came to the open market.
“The opportunities this property provides and its location, will offer a buyer potential for a variety of alternative uses, subject to obtaining planning permission,” he added.
“The added attraction of acquiring one of only three playable Stické tennis courts in existence will no doubt generate interest.”
Oliver Custance Baker, head of Strutt & Parker’s country house department, added: “Hartham Park is a country house that’s taken on many guises since its Georgian inception. From a private family estate and hosting Sir Winston Churchill, to becoming an RAF billet during the second world war and, in more recent history, being used to house commercial offices, it’s certainly adaptable.
“The sale of the house presents the start of a new chapter in Hartham Park’s history, whether that be as a private estate, a country house hotel, used by the education sector, or for the provision of senior living. With over 67,000 sq ft of space to develop, the buyer will have grand ambitions and imagination – which this house, of such significance and size, surely deserves.”
