A billionaire’s plans for the restoration of a huge Wiltshire estate have passed another milestone.
Hedge fund manager Chris Rokos has had further details approved for the refurbishment of Tottenham House, a Wiltshire mansion with 100 bedrooms.
The renovation to transform the site back into a family home was approved in 2018 and expressed a need to modernise it for 21st-century living.
In 2023, specifics of this repair work were submitted to Wiltshire Council and given the green light.
Now, further details have also been approved which address certain conditions imposed by the local authority.
These included requirements related to the protection of the site and ensured that the plans would maintain the building’s character.
A major feature that has been given the go-ahead is the proposed installation of an acoustic floating floor at the first and second levels of the house to reduce noise transfer.
The latest cover letter submitted to the council stated: “Through continued careful and responsible stewardship and significant financial investment, the owner has committed to make the estate (including the house) a model of how, in the 21st century, an estate of significant heritage importance can be managed for the long-term benefit of its owner and the wider local community, and to secure its enjoyment for future generations.
“This stewardship includes the delivery of a comprehensive restoration project which is significantly more sensitive to the historic use of the estate than previous permissions and which would see the estate returned to its original purpose for use as a family residence.”
The owner, Mr Rokos, was estimated to have a worth of £2.5bn on the Sunday Times 2024 Rich List.
This is not the first time he has shown an interest in such sites – according to the BBC, Mawley Hall in Shropshire had a list price of £10m when he bought it in 2018.
It is estimated that the newly restored house will need 69 staff and have running costs equivalent to a medium-sized hotel.
In 2014, the former owner of Tottenham House, the Earl of Cardigan David Brudenell-Bruce, sold the mansion to a developer for £11.25m after a battle against the estate’s trustees to keep his ancestral home.
The 4,500-acre Savernake Estate had been in the family for nearly 200 years when it was sold.
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