Darnley Mausoleum has won Country Life's 'Country House of the Year Award' for, 'An outstanding property that reflects sympathetic restoration, careful stewardship and heritage protection'.
Left derelict in 1950, the imposing 18th-century mausoleum was so severely vandalized it seemed beyond repair. A restoration project, led by the practice, has returned the Grade I listed memorial to its former glory after nearly 60 years of decline.
The two-storey building, designed by prominent architect James Wyatt for the 3rd Earl of Darnley, is an irregular octagon constructed from crisply detailed Portland stone. The eleven-year, £2.5m restoration project entailed painstaking repair, cleaning and reinstatement work to secure the future of this Georgian gem. It formed part of a larger landscape management scheme, which included repairs to Wyatt's Grade II* listed Dairy, the Aviary and Pump House.