Farleigh House
| Farleigh House | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Town or city | Farleigh Hungerford |
| Country | England |
| Completed | 1820 |
| Cost | £40,000 |
| Client | Joseph Houlton |
Farleigh House, or Farleigh Castle, sometimes called Farleigh New Castle, is a large English country house in the county of Somerset, formerly the centre of the Farleigh Hungerford estate. Much of the stone to build it came from the nearby Farleigh Hungerford Castle and the house is now a Grade II listed building.
Farleigh House was built and extended during the 18th and 19th centuries and until 1970 served as the centre of a country estate owned by the Houlton family until 1899, then by others. In 1970 it was sold to be used as a prep school called Ravenscroft School. After this closed in 1996, the house was leased from the last owners of the school by the new Farleigh College until 2001, and it was then sold to Inspecs, a manufacturer of optical instruments. In 2010 a 99-year lease was acquired by Bath Rugby Club, which now occupies it as its headquarters and training centre.
The house was largely built with stone taken from the ruins of the mediaeval Farleigh Castle. A Trowbridge clothier, Joseph Houlton, bought the Farleigh Hungerford estate in 1702, and his son, Joseph Houlton the Younger, lived at Church Farm on the estate. He completely rebuilt and turned an old gabled house into Farleigh House, a modest gentleman's residence complete with a 120-acre (49 ha) deer park. In 1806, Colonel John Houlton inherited the estate. He enlarged and altered the house in the fashionable Gothic Revival style, spending £40,000 - several million in today‘s values — on extensions to the main house, a chapel, hot houses, conservatories, stables and six lodges. Most of the present house dates from that period. One of the lodges was called the Castle Lodge and is now known as the Bath Lodge Hotel.
The Houlton family remained at Farleigh Hungerford until 1899, when Sir Edward Houlton died with no male heir.
The estate was sold in 1906 to Lord Cairns and later passed through several hands. In the 1950s and 1960s, Farleigh House and its estate were owned by the Hely-Hutchinson family, a cadet branch of the Earls of Donoughmore.
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