Sleeper - Issue 92

Page 83

Brownber House CUMBRIA The hoteliers behind Brownber Hall launch a new private hireplus offer overlooking the Howgill Fells. Words: Catherine Martin Photography: © Jake Eastham

I

f there’s one type of accommodation that the

Walker however, closure wasn’t an option. In

UK does better than anyone, it’s the classic

2016, the duo left the stresses of London life

country house hotel. Set amongst rolling hills

behind and moved 300 miles north to realise

at the end of a winding lane, the archetypal

their dream of running a guesthouse. They

country pile with roaring log fire is a frequent

spent four years renovating and repositioning

sight in rural locations across the British Isles,

Brownber Hall – a Victorian mansion built

with many once occupied by aristocracy and

in the 1800s – and were in the midst of an

handed down through generations before

expansion project when Covid-19 took hold.

eventually being converted to hotel use. And

“We used lockdown as a time to rethink our

while the traditional look of heavy drapery,

offer,” explains Amanda. “Brownber Hall was

deep colourways and heady combination of

a small, very intimate hotel, so with the current

check and chintz may have served well in days

climate and people not being comfortable in

gone by, a new breed of hoteliers are favouring

public spaces, we were a nervous about being

a softer, lighter, more elegant aesthetic that has

able to reopen.”

effectively reinvented the country house hotel in recent years.

As it became clear they could no longer operate in the same way, Peter and Amanda made the

But when the global pandemic hit, the sub-

difficult decision to pivot to private rental, and

sector suffered more than most; what was

at the same time launch a second property in

originally a USP – cosy, intimate spaces that felt

Brownber House, which they acquired earlier

more like a living room than a lobby – became

this year. The four-bedroom farmhouse

a drawback, with prolonged social distancing

occupies the same estate as Brownber Hall,

measures forcing some to close their doors

overlooking the Howgill Fells and close to the

permanently. For Peter and Amanda Jaques-

market town of Kirkby Stephen. It was already

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