Hotel damaged by fire has £4m restoration

Specialist teams have worked with the guidance of English Heritage and others to restore the country house hotel in Yarm, and yesterday, a year on from the blaze, the hotel’s grand £4m restoration was unveiled to the public.

Residents and staff were led to safety after the fire broke out last year and the hotel had to be closed for a short period while the damage was assessed. Part of the hotel was re-opened while painstaking restoration work was carried out in the east wing.

Julia Hands, who runs Hand Picked Hotels, owners of Crathorne Hall Hotel said: “We remain indebted to the fire services for saving an important part of the history and landscape of this part of North Yorkshire and are very proud that the hotel takes its place once more as a wonderful place to meet and to stay.”

Set in 15 acres of private grounds, the hotel has been awarded four Red Stars - placing it among the top hotels in the UK and Ireland. English actress and singer songwriter Minnie Driver stayed there while filming Who Do You Think You Are? for the BBC.

Distinguished visitors to Crathorne Hall have included The Queen Mother, The Prince of Wales and Prime Ministers Sir Anthony Eden, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Macmillan.

Yesterday Lord Crathorne, whose family owned the Edwardian country house for more than 70 years, joined Peter Llewellyn, the hotel’s general manager and the team to celebrate the restoration.

Mr Llewellyn said the blaze had caused extensive damage to the east wing. “We literally had to strip out all the walls and floors and we then rebuilt the internal area,” he said.

In consultation with English Heritage and Hambleton District Council’s planning and conservation officer, a team of specialist craftsmen worked on refurbishing and restoring grand architectural features in the hotel and even discovered gems such as a splendid archway uncovered in the county suite corridor in the east wing. This has been restored and the detail repeated to create a grand colonnade.

Specialist structural techniques were employed to extend doorways and openings to create more space. In the former nursery, an old stove was discovered which nannies would have used to heat the iron for pressing clothes. This has also been preserved and incorporated as a feature.

The York and Ormesby bedroom wings have been rebuilt, using traditional lath and plaster to restore the ceilings. Fireplaces were uncovered and restored within some of the bedrooms.

As part of the exterior restoration, slate was hand cut to match the existing roof and installed one section at a time to ensure the coursing was aligned.

Mr Llewellyn said that fortunately the blaze had not destroyed any significant paintings, antiques or other items. He said the cause of the blaze was inconclusive.

He said that the hotel has worked hard to ensure that the restoration reflected the original detail of the hall.

Guests will now be able to enjoy the newly restored facilities and stylish interior design, with a palette of earthy colours reflecting the 37-bedroon hotel’s rural setting in 15 acres of private grounds on the edge of the North York Moors.

Mr Llewellyn added: “Crathorne Hall has a special place in the hearts of people in the local area and they have been tremendously supportive over the past year.

“I think that people fall in love with Crathorne very quickly, it’s a beautiful building in a lovely estate.”