Sulgrave Manor

The Washington family's roots lay in the north-east of England, at Wessyngton, in the 12th century. They moved south to Warton in Lancashire in the 14th century and then to Sulgrave in the 15th. Northamptonshire had been prominent in the wool trade since the Middle Ages, and Lawrence Washington's success in that trade allowed him to build Sulgrave Manor between 1540 and 1560. His great-grandson, also named Lawrence, was born at the manor in 1602.

The Washingtons sold the house in the mid-17th century. In 1656 a descendant, John Washington, great-grandfather of George, emigrated to Virginia. During the 18th century Sulgrave was let to a series of farmers, and around 1780 the west wing was demolished. By the early 20th century the manor was derelict.

The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve 1814, had ended the War of 1812. In 1911 the former US president Theodore Roosevelt suggested a permanent memorial to mark one hundred years of peace between Britain and the United States. After a fundraising campaign supported by George V, Sulgrave Manor was bought in 1914 for $42,500. The First World War delayed the work, but from 1920 Sir Reginald Blomfield reconstructed the house. He rebuilt the lost west wing to recover the original symmetry and created a garden as its setting. When underfunding threatened the house in the late 20th century, an endowment from the estate of the philanthropist Paul Mellon, together with other donations and National Lottery funding, secured its future.

Sulgrave Manor is administered by a trust and receives around 20,000 visitors a year, many of them from the United States. The revised Pevsner guide to Northamptonshire calls it a ‘mecca for American visitors’. Look out for the original 16th-century central porch and east wing and the original fireplace in the Great Chamber. These contrast with Blomfield's 20th-century west wing and screen. The gardens are separately listed at Grade II, and the attached brewhouse shares the house's Grade I status.

Organised public ghost hunts are held at the manor for those curious about the unexplained. Please treat the house with care, as it is a protected historic building. Check with the Sulgrave Manor Trust for current opening arrangements and event dates before you travel.