DESCENDANTS of a family resident in Ingestre for more than 750 years have restored a Grade II listed building to provide three luxury holiday apartments in a bid to pull in visitors to the village.
Aaron and Anna Chetwynd, whose family once owned Ingestre Hall, the seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury, redeveloped the New Stables to become Ingestre Lodges holiday homes - and they are already attracting attention from potential visitors.
The restoration has been hailed as “exemplary” by conservationists and was formally opened by Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy on Saturday.
After inspecting the three holiday homes, which can accommodate up to 18 people, Mr Lefroy praised the care the architects had have put into restoring the 127-year-old building.
“It’s wonderful to see how this impressive listed building has been painstakingly adapted and restored by the skills of local craftsmen,” he said.
He said he would be seeing Prime Minister David Cameron, who lived in neighbouring Tixall when he was Parliamentary candidate for Stafford in 1996/97, and expected he would be glad to hear of the venture.
“He may even like to come back here himself, so I shall be giving him a brochure,” said Mr Lefroy.
The conversion and restoration of the east range of the New Stables quadrangle also won praise from Ted Manders, head of planning and regeneration for Stafford Borough Council.
“The conversion is an excellent example of how, with minimal intervention, a historic building can be adapted to create new and quirky accommodation that retains its historic character,” he said.
