The owners of a plush hotel and wedding venue have put the Grade II listed building up for sale for £2.25m. Built in 1864, the former merchant’s country house The Highfield used to be a family home for its current owners, designers Andy and Lindsey Lampard.
In 2022 they decided to transform it into a hotel and wedding venue – a move that has led to a string of award wins. Now, however, they have decided to place it on the market, enlisting property adviser Christie & Co to market the well-known Grade II listed venue in Driffield, East Yorkshire.
Home to 12 luxurious, individually themed guest bedrooms, The Highfield provides five-star boutique accommodation. It has an impressive suite of food and drink spaces including The Palm Parlour, The Library cocktail bar, The Drawing Room and The Great Hall, which regularly host weddings and events, as well as a shop and spa treatment rooms.
Built on the site of North End Windmill, which was destroyed by fire in 1860, local drapers merchant Henry Angus bought the land and built Mill Field House, which was later extended and improved under the supervision of his son Harrison Holt.
Holt commissioned renowned Victorian architect Temple Moore to carry out renovations, which featured Avant Garde architectural themes and styles of the period. The building’s striking black and white façade was inspired by Holt’s wife’s ancestral home in Cheshire, called Highfields, and the house became known as Highfield House.
In the years that followed, the house spent time as a country club and a private residence. It was bought by Andy and Lindsey Lampard in 2015, who worked together to transform it into the popular hotel and wedding venue it is today.
Earlier this year they told the Hull Daily Mail how they were also targeting the business community, highlighting how The Highfield makes an ideal destination for work retreats and events.
The Victorian property, set within seven acres of private land with lawned gardens, woodlands, an orchard and trout stream, has also been awarded an AA 5 Star Guest Accommodation and 2 AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence. It also features in the Michelin Hotel Guide and it scooped Remarkable Hotel of the Year at the Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards. Last year also saw it win a host of other awards including a Good Food Award and TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice.
Property agents Christie & Co have highlighted how the hotel’s position, based near the market town of Driffield in the Yorkshire Wolds, places it at the heart of a thriving tourist area, close to the Yorkshire Coast, as well as the North York Moors National Park and Howardian Hills National Landscape.
Andy and Lindsey Lampard said: “After ten wonderful years of developing and running The Highfield, and after having lovingly restored this beautiful property from a private residence into the thriving hotel, restaurant, and events venue it is today, our family has made the thoughtful decision to place the property on the market.
“This has not been an easy choice, but one shaped by life’s natural seasons and our wish to embrace new opportunities as a family. Working alongside the highly respected team of experts at Christie & Co, we are taking a considered approach to finding the right new custodians.
“We are deeply grateful for the incredible support we’ve received and remain committed to ensuring The Highfield continues to thrive.”
David Lee, regional director – hotels at Christie & Co, is managing the sale process and added: “Highfield House represents an excellent opportunity for a purchaser to acquire a superb, award-winning business. Highfield is an outstanding period property with many attractive features.
“Our clients have built the reputation of the business over the years to a level where it is now deservedly winning awards and is a very popular venue for events, and with strong trade derived from room sales. There is also an excellent restaurant which is let to a talented chef.”
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