Aynhoe Park is reminiscent of the old wonder cabinets.
During a trip to Great Britain, while reading a lifestyle magazine, I came across a most eccentric fashion production. The stage seemed an idyllic Georgian country house surrounded by exquisite gardens, but something inside did not fit… or maybe it did.
There were enormous sculptures of flamingos escorting the doors of the bathrooms, white unicorns presiding over halls decked out in celebration, giraffes that hung from multicolored balloons, crocodiles that carried trays with drinks, zebras that were seesaws and lamps decorated with feathers throughout the rooms. It was like those wonder cabinets from the 17th and 18th centuries in which the nobles and bourgeois exhibited exotic objects and curiosities bought in all corners of the world.
Would it be a hotel? A private mansion? An event space? So I quickly got in touch with them to tell me their story, the story of the very kitsch but incredibly beautiful Aynhoe Park.
One of the Aynhoe Park spaces.
THE HOSTS
It was its owner, the interior designer and event planner, Sophie Perkins, who told me that this mansion in Banbury, in the county of Oxfordshire, is actually a family property that is rented out entirely.
“Aynhoe Park is our private home and not a hotel. What makes us unique. To be able to have the house you have to reserve the 35 rooms. You are far from the world and, at the same time, you are transported to a different one, where there are butlers who take care of you”, explains Sophie, who has been in charge, together with her husband, James Perkins, a collector, restorer of historic houses and a veteran of the music industry, to shape and protect the original elements of the property, which has undergone numerous renovations, such as the carried out by the great British architect Sir John Soane in the nineteenth century, with landscaped gardens by Capability Brown.
Because the secret of Aynhoe Park, in addition to its original decoration, lies in the History with capital letters that it treasures and that has known how to preserve and spread marriage so well since it acquired it in 2006: for one night, Aynho was 'the capital' of England, after King Charles I, at the beginning of the Civil War, issued from the mansion proclamations to the cities of London and Westminster in which he indicated "from our court in Ayno".
Aynhoe Park: A Cabinet of 21st Century Wonders
IN THE MEDIA
One only has to take a look at its website and its social networks to realize that Aynhoe Park is a setting, if not for a movie, then for the media: productions for Hola or Harpers Bazar magazines or photo sessions for L'Officiel Hommes with the model David Gandy as the protagonist… And weddings, many weddings, including that of Jade Jagger, the daughter of the legendary Rolling Stones vocalist.
When Sophie is asked about the very particular decorative style of the house, she answers that it is eclectic English… But very, very eclectic, if we take into account the opulence of the interior design of its rooms, some with large Georgian halls with wallpaper, and other smaller and more intimate ones, in the style of the old boudoir that the Marquis de Sade liked so much.
And your favorite place in the house? "A seat that faces our main staircase, designed by Sir John Soanne. The light is very special and, while you are sitting there in silence, time literally passes you by!", confesses the interior designer.
In Aynhoe Park you can find a giraffe hanging from some balloons.
Aynhoe Park is full of pieces bought by Sophie and James during their travels, acquired in museums or that are gifts from friends, but each and every one of them "has a memory", as the owner reminds me, who urges people to undertake their own Grand Tour, one that can begin by acquiring one of the household items in your online decoration store A Modern Grand Club. "There are from candles to Hercules!" explains Sophi.
Inspired by the Grand Tours of yesteryear, those trips through Europe that served to educate young aristocrats -mainly British-, in A Modern Grand Club there are very unique collectibles, such as feather lamps, taxidermy pieces or plaster sculptures of museums and famous buildings from around the world.
They also have a line of stationery and personalized invitations entitled Aynhoe Collection. Designed in collaboration with artist Victoria Fitzroy, the drawings are based on the eccentric Aynhoe Park art collection.
One of the Aynhoe Park rooms.
Address: Aynho, OX17 3BQ See map
Telephone: +44 (0) 1869810636
Half price: Full rental with breakfast: from 40,000 pounds