'There is always something melancholy in contemplating the building of a house by one who has looked forward to dwelling therein, and to find him cut off before his hope is realised,' wrote Country Life of Lynford Hall in an article of 1903, 'but the history of English dwelling places and their builders is full of such incidents.'
The death of the man in question, a Mr Lyne-Stephens, proved to be just the first of many twists in the life of Lynford Hall since it was completed in 1858. It has been a country house, an agricultural college, a headquarters for the Forestry Commission, an American military facility in the Second World War, a hotel, a wedding venue, a country house for a second time, an organic farming centre and — surely best of all — the filming venue for the classic 1980s sitcom Allo Allo.
Today, 170 years on from the original commission — in which Lyne-Stephens briefed his architect a brief to create Norfolk's answer to Hatfield House — Lynford Hall is all set to begin the next chapter of its life. Set near Thetford, and 12 miles from Sandringham, it's for sale via property agent Tim Phillips, who quotes a guide price of £3.5 million.
The influence of Jacobean Hatfield House is easy to see at Lynford Hall, with its contrast of red brick and white stone.
That purchase price buys you a very different Lynfield Hall from the one Lyne-Stephens would have known. Originally it was part of an estate of over 7,000 acres, but most of that land is now in the hands of the Forestry Commission, who once owned the place and kept the bulk of the estate while selling off the house and around 20 acres of gardens and grounds.
The great change came in the 1920s, when a terrible fire destroyed much of the building.
Lynford Hall as it appeared in Country Life in 1903.
Though much of the Hall was later restored — including by the Americans, who installed central heating heating for the benefit of convalescing soldiers — there are still areas which have yet to be returned to their original glory. Of the three original cupolas, for example, only one remains.
While: there are 39 bedrooms, ten of which are in the main house, with 29 more arranged around a courtyard — the courtyard where Allo Allo was filmed, standing in for the war-torn French village in which the action was set.
This cobbled courtyard in Norfolk was dressed up by the BBC as a cobbled courtyard in 1940s France.
Look familiar? Those who remember the show might recognise the exterior of Réné's café, and the town square. If not, the blue plaque in the courtyard will remind them. And if you haven't heard of Allo Allo, it's worth knowing that other BBC shows were also made here. Most of Dad's Army was filmed just down the road in Thetford, for example, but whenever they needed a country house background they came down to Lynford Hall.
Where war-torn France meets 1980s Norfolk: The cast of Allo Allo pictured during filming at Lynford Hall.
Lynford Hall's main role over the last fifty years or so wasn't filming: it was a medium-sized country house hotel and wedding venue. Should the new owners wish to take it back down that path, extensive work will be needed, both to the buildings and interiors and also to the services.
It could be a much bigger business, too: Tim Phillips notes in his entertaining walk-through video that planning permission has previously been granted to expand the property from 40,000sq ft to 100,000sq ft — that's roughly half the size of Blenheim Palace.
It's options like that which make Lynford Hall a fascinating prospect: the potential here is enormous. Tim's video also delves in to some of the parts of the building that have laid untouched for a century or more, where ivy grows down the walls and Victorian fittings are still in place.
Some of the oldest parts of Lynford Hall survived the fire in the 1920s, but have lain dormant ever since.
This is not a project for the faint-hearted, or for those who wish to just move in to a lovely country house. It's a job for a new owner keen to take on a wonderful neo-Jacobean building and create something new which will add to the house's story. Mr Lyne-Stephens might not have seen his house completed, but you can't help thinking that he'd be fascinated to see the may ways it's changed and survived.
Lynford Hall is for sale at £3.5 million — for more information contact Tim Phillips.
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