Huntsham Court

The architect Benjamin Ferrey had restored the adjacent All Saints Church for Arthur Troyte between 1854–6 and was also likely to be responsible for the 1871 addition to the church shortly after completing the Court for Charles Troyte.[6]

In 2014 the property won the Hudson Heritage Award for Commercial Innovation for creating a new way of celebrating the "historic built environment" whilst preserving it for future generations, supporting local businesses and suppliers whilst also enabling the public to enjoy and use the building.^[7]

Notable guests

While the house functioned as a hotel, Douglas Adams stayed for ten weeks in the summer of 1984 to work on his book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; the fourth book in his "trilogy", The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.^[8] In M. J. Simpson's biography of Adams, he notes that no progress was made towards the novel and instead focuses on his drinking of wine.^[9] Steve Meretzky, who accompanied Adams to develop a Hitchhiker's video game, also said they were both behind schedule and admitted to "sipping expensive wines" during their stay.^[10] On another occasion, a call came from America offering Douglas £50,000 to write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy calendar. A few weeks later, having done no work towards it, another call came saying the deal had fallen through but that he would still be paid half the fee; realising he had made £25,000 for doing nothing, Adams asked the owners of Huntsham Court for the biggest bottle of champagne in the cellar.^[9] When the book was finally published Adams placed a dedication to Huntsham Court and its owners at the front of the book; he returned many times and even invested in the hotel.^[8]

In 2013, Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye used the house as a backdrop for its "Shine a Light" video.^[11]

In 2018, the house was used as a location in the opening episode of season 15 for the reality television series Made in Chelsea.^[12]

References