Cottesbrooke Hall

About this place

Cottesbrooke Hall is a Queen Anne country house near the village of Cottesbrooke in Northamptonshire, built in rose-coloured brick between 1702 and 1712 for Sir John Langham.

Designed by Francis Smith of Warwick, it is Grade I listed and remains the family home of the Macdonald-Buchanans.

The house contains the Woolavington Collection, an internationally regarded assembly of sporting art, fine furniture and porcelain.

The surrounding gardens, which have won the Christie's and Historic Houses Association Garden of the Year Award, feature formal planting and a Wild Garden with acers, spring bulbs and gunneras along a stream.

The Hall and Gardens open to visitors on set days through the summer months.

History

The house was built for Sir John Langham between 1702 and 1712, designed by the architect Francis Smith of Warwick in the Queen Anne style. It is Grade I listed and has passed down through the family, with the Macdonald-Buchanans continuing to live there and manage the wider estate.

Architecture

The Hall is built of rose-coloured brick in the Queen Anne style, the work of Francis Smith of Warwick, one of the leading provincial architects of the early eighteenth century.

Worth knowing

The Hall holds the Woolavington Collection, an internationally known assembly of sporting art alongside fine furniture and porcelain, one of the reasons the house draws specialist visitors as well as garden-goers.

Gardens & grounds

The gardens have won the Christie's and Historic Houses Association Garden of the Year Award, and range from formal planting around the Hall to a Wild Garden along a stream, planted with acers, spring bulbs and gunneras.