Amport House is a mid-nineteenth century Grade II listed country house, set in beautiful historic gardens designed by Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens. Our client, Another Place, is the team behind the Watergate Bay Hotel and Another Place: The Lakes. They acquired the property with the intention of making a unique guest experience based on their concept of ‘Active Leisure’, using the garden for a range of activities from yoga, children’s play and outdoor swimming.

The main house itself was built in the Elizabethan style by John Paulet, 14th Marquess of Winchester in 1857 and was the Army Chaplaincy for 100 years until 2019. This project will see the sensitive conversion of this historic house to create a relaxed and fully accessible guest experience. The ground floor layout of the house will be retained with each room creating a variety of food and beverage offers, including a library for co-working. The upper floors and existing contemporary extension will be converted into guest rooms, ranging from large historic suites to family rooms. The hotel will create 50 ‘keys’, which includes two eco-lodges set in the mature woodlands.

We are working with Marian Boswall Landscape Architects to ensure the 1923 Lutyens and Jekyll gardens will be fully restored, and provide the centre of all guest activities. The beautiful water features and terrace will create an outdoor dining venue, with the secluded walled gardens beyond for more informal picnics. The area of expansive lawn and pleached lime trees will create zones for yoga and outdoor exercise classes, with the woodland beyond allowing forest bathing. A new building in the north-west corner of the site will create a ‘Swim Club’ for indoor/outdoor swimming, changing and studio facilities, as well as a new ‘Kids’ Club’ to provide an Ofsted registered nursery and play area. Whilst re-instating this important historic garden the project will also increase the biodiversity across the site.

Below images courtesy Marian Boswall Landscape Architects.

We worked closely with the Planning Consultants LUC and Test Valley Borough Council to successfully achieve Planning and Listed Building Consent for the project in October 2023.