Press Coverage 3
When I inherited the house in 1987 it came with all sorts of staff,” he said wistfully, “like the housekeeper who once made the bed without noticing that I had a girlfriend in it.”
A young labrador came bounding up, and was introduced as Vossy. “I call my dogs after the paintings I’ve sold to keep the roof on. This one was named in honour of a Cornelius de Vos.”
Tissington Hall is open to the public, but day visitors are not enough to sustain it, and FitzHerbert feels that renting it out for events – and welcoming stately-home vacationers – is a better solution.
“A lot of people who come with coach parties seem to think one historic house is much like another. I like the idea of having visitors who are going to show a proper interest in the place.”
This may or may not include staying the night. The biggest question for Hurt and Chichester-Clark is whether their clients are prepared to tolerate the lack of luxury – from draughty corridors to temperamental plumbing – that life in an authentic country house entails. “Everyone has told us that it’s out of the question for Americans,” says Chichester-Clark.
“They all want showers, which is something hardly any of these houses have.” The company therefore offers alternative accommodation in local hotels which boast a full panoply of heated towel rails, hairdryers, and so on.
That said, my bedroom at Tissington was perfectly comfortable. The carpet leading to it was admittedly rather threadbare, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an ensuite bathroom with a plentiful supply of hot water. The furnishings included ruched chintz curtains, a fine chaise longue, an ancient Trinitron television, and copies of Country Life dating from 1992.
Dinner was a relaxed affair for 10, our numbers swelled by half a dozen of Sir Richard’s neighbours – among them the Scott-Moncrieffs, who arrived in a gleaming Rolls-Royce. (Their other car is a Bugatti.) After Pimm’s in the library, where a CD of Capital Gold Legends shares shelf space with Les Chroniques de Froissart, we sat down to an excellent meal of smoked-salmon mousse, local lamb and summer pudding in the panelled dining-room.
