Eaton Hall Open Day
This weekend is the Eaton Hall open day, when the Duke of Westminster opens his Cheshire home to the public. Lovelock Mitchell have historically had a close association with the Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor Estate, and the house has an interesting story attached to it…
The first Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, commissioned our founder Thomas Lockwood to design prominent Chester buildings such as 1 & 2 Bridge Street and Grosvenor Museum. He also commissioned other renowned architects such as Norman Shaw and Alfred Waterhouse, who designed his incredible Gothic Revival house.
LMA were later commissioned again to work on the house when it was a military hospital during WW2, shown here in photographs and plans from our archive. The Daily Telegraph described it as “one of the most princely and beautiful mansions that these islands contain”.
Sadly in the 1960’s the house was deemed too large by the 5th Duke, and replaced with a Modern Corbusian white villa, designed by his wife’s brother-in-law.
The 6th Duke then had different ideas and had the house redesigned as an old French Chateau in 1989.
A fascinating story of tastes across generations.
