Lartington Hall, near Barnard Castle, has had many interesting owners, including a drunken monk and an eccentric widow who lived there with her butler and parrot. Chris Pleasance talks to the couple who are transforming the Teesdale mansion into a venue for weddings and special occasions.

SURROUNDED by cardboard boxes, standing between a stack of plastic chairs and a stuffed deer’s head, I’m looking up at a tacky plastic clock nailed onto a shed-brown wall.

Overhead, fluorescent striplights hang down from the 20ft-high ceiling on metal poles with yellow netting draped across them. Cheap plasterboard is nailed to three of the walls with squash court markings on it.

But for the ornate stainedglass windows, this could be the back end of a forgotten 1980s’ gym complex. In fact, it is the chapel attached to Lartington Hall, a stately home that dates back nearly 400 years, set among lovely parkland just outside Barnard Castle.

“This is the last part of the house for us to restore,” explains Shona Harper-Wilkes, a millionaire businesswoman who bought Lartington Hall with husband John.

“The previous owners were trying to make money from it any way they could, so they turned this chapel into a squash court.

“Believe it or not, they also turned the ballroom into a recording studio for rock bands by putting up plasterboard and then pouring sand behind for soundproofing.

“When we bought it, there was a low ceiling made out of those horrible plaster tiles you get in offices. It’s difficult to imagine how it was then, compared to now.”

The strange tale of Lartington Hall started in Tudor times under Henry VIII, though the original property now sits underneath the current home and was used as a foundation when the house was raised, possibly to prevent it from flooding.

It belonged to the up-andcoming Applebys, who used their royal connections to further their station.

During its long life, the house also played host to Joseph Hansom, an architect from York, who worked on the property for many years while living on site, and is said to have invented the Hansom carriage while staying there.

Other owners have included a drunken monk, whose famed wine cellar is mentioned in records of other prominent houses from the area, and Henry Witham, a loveable rogue who widened the back dining room to allow more room for dancing, and added the ballroom as a private museum to house his fossil collection.

He fled to Scotland to escape his creditors after losing all his money on a horse race, only to return five years later to the applause of villagers, the debts apparently forgotten.

Though the house was altered a lot during this period, it was kept in excellent condition until soldiers were stationed here in the Second World War. Then, in the 1970s, Lartington Hall fell in on itself.

The owners at the time were Mr and Mrs Fields, an extravagant and rich couple who were beneficiaries of the Marshall Field’s department stores in Chicago.

After Mr Field died in a car accident in 1973, his widow lived in the house alone.

Described by Shona as “a proper, old eccentric”, Mrs Fields lived in one room with only a butler called Davenport and a parrot named Harris to keep her company. The rest of the house fell into disrepair.

Birds nested in the corridors and everything became damp.

Even when a fire ripped through the hall, blowing out most of the windows and blackening the ceilings, Mrs Fields never thought of repairing it.

Instead, she ate dinner in the ballroom underneath an umbrella to keep the rain off.

Now lovingly restored by Shona and John, it is being rented out for “exclusive hire”, meaning anyone can rent the house, complete with its own chef, for any occasion, though in practice it has mostly been used for weddings.

Darlington and Stockton Times:

“I think when people come here and see it, they fall in love with it, like we did, “ she says.

“Throughout its history the house has always been used for parties and you can feel that when you’re here. Even though it’s a big, old house, it never feels spooky when you’re here on your own.”

The enterprising couple, who own hospitality and IT consultancy firms, bought the house in 2010 for £1.2m and are about to complete phase one of the refurbishment, which has cost them between £800,000 and £1m.

“I doubt if we’ll get that money back,” John admits.

“I think if we host weddings for the rest of our lives, we won’t see it again. But it’s not about the money. It’s about giving the house a second lease of life and creating a great place to be.”

The couple plan to refurbish the servants’ quarters and outbuildings to give themselves somewhere to live, though they say this won’t cost nearly as much.

Part of the reason the cost has spiralled is that Lartington Hall is Grade II*-listed, meaning there are very strict guidelines about what can be done with it.

A tense moment came a few weeks before the first guests were due to arrive, when the builders uncovered an original painted ceiling.

“There is a moment where you think, ‘Do I really have to tell them? Can we just pretend we didn’t see that?’ But, of course, you have a responsibility to the building and it worked out fine in the end,” says Shona.

The final product of all the hard work and money is a truly stunning venue in historic surroundings, but with all the luxury modcons of a five-star hotel.

“The response we’ve had has been amazing,” Shona says at the end of our tour.

“We haven’t done any marketing at all, but we’re already booked up.”