Beautiful Grade 1 listed stately home near Banbury is turned into a giant furniture showroom

Grade 1-listed Aynho Park, once home to the Cartwright family, has been taken over by RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) as the first of its attempts to break into the European design and hospitality market.

It has more than 60 rooms, but you cannot stay. For this entire, magnificent 17th century house has been fitted out with RH furniture, all in a palette of brown, for customers to view, test and buy.

It is designed as ‘an unrivalled experience, integrating luxury home furnishings collections from RH Interiors, contemporary, modern and outdoor, with rare art, antiques and artefacts from across the globe’.

The day before the media occasion the Banbury Guardian attended, the design staff helped one buyer choose furniture for their entire home in a single purchase. See https://rh.com/gb/en/

This iconic building, set in an historic, 73-acre park is marketed as ‘a first-of-its-kind design and hospitality destination’. See our picture gallery here.

You can enjoy refreshments in a number of restaurants. The Loggia, a terrace restaurant and wine bar, offers wood-fired pizzas, charcuterie boards and rustic shared plates in an outdoor setting with French limestone fountains and fire tables overlooking the estate.

There is a wine lounge and tea salon as well as a juicery, serving made-to-order fresh juices, coffees and grilled baguettes.

The Conservatory is an American bistro designed as a skylit ‘garden escape’, defined by a glass roof with century-old Spanish olive trees and salvaged brick fireplaces.

Main restaurant meals are served in the delightful Orangery which is described as a ‘live-fire’ concept. This space, with its 22-foot ceilings, features a marble hearth flanked by custom Molteni rotisseries from France.

Natural light floods in from the towering arched windows. Diners sit on Italian merino wool velvet seating at Calacatta gold marbled tables. The Orangery is completed by a dramatic lighting installation by acclaimed Los Angeles-based master glass designer and artist, Alison Berger – ‘an evocation of rain reflected in an elegant procession of mirrors’.

The Orangery’s new menu boasts a ‘significant culinary transformation’ for the summer and includes a Chinese Chicken Salad, Fried Chicken Sando, The Roadside Lobster Roll, Grilled Avocado with Caviar and various other standouts.

Prices range from £18 – £36 for starters, £55 – £105 for Caviar specialities, £24 – £29 signature salads, £14 classic salads with additions extra, £17 – £34 sandwiches and £22 – £52 for mains.

From these restaurants, guests are able to enjoy stunning views of the Capability Brown landscape.

The opening of RH England, The Gallery at the Historic Aynho Park, is described in publicity material as ‘representing the most inspiring and immersive physical expression of the brand to date’.

The company has opened another RH in Madrid, Spain and its expansion calendar promises an RH in Mayfair, London and a fourth in Paris.

England’s Grade 1 listed buildings include Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Aynho Park was expanded and refurbished by pre-eminent British architect Sir John Soane in the early-19th century.

RH CEO Gary Friedman said: “We believe RH England represents our greatest work to date and will serve as a symbol of our values and beliefs as we embark on our expansion across Europe.”