Historic Gisburne Park estate to undergo £30M into state of the art members’ club, hotel and holistic wellness retreat

Alison Brooks Architects, one of the country’s leading architects, has been commissioned to spearhead the £30M project to restore and revitalise the grade one listed Georgian mansion at the heart of the Gisburne Park estate.

Brooks has joined forces with renowned landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan to sensitively enhance Gisburne’s 68-hectare park and woodland setting, transforming the former hunting estate into a one-of-a-kind destination, rooted in wellness, art and landscape.

Gisburne Park is the family home of Guy Hindley, artist and grandson of Britsh Home Stores’ founder Harold Hindley. Guy inherited the estate in 2003, when the historic 400 year old house at the centre had been sold on and expanded, enabling it to operate as a private hospital for around 35 years until its closure in 2021.

Since taking over the estate, Guy and his wife Amber have set up Ribblesdale Park holiday village, restaurant, wedding venue and glampsite.

During the pandemic, when the opportunity came to buy the manor house and reintegrate the estate, they saw a chance to take Gisburne Park to the next level, and transform the home into a California-inspired health spa, fitness and lifestyle provision, complemented by an on-site art gallery, a calendar of community cultural events, and opportunities for therapeutic immersions in nature, courtesy of the 70-acre wildlife sanctuary on site.

Key to the Hindleys’ project is the restoration of the mansion and its grounds. There are plans to re-develop the gardens and wider landscape – including restoring a former lake for wild swimming. The Hindleys have a vision to create a world-class destination, defined by privacy, exceptional design, historic character and a genuine sense of place – with cutting-edge wellness at its core.

Their plan for the site encompasses hotel rooms and suites, a holistic spa with wide-ranging sports and fitness facilities, an art gallery featuring work from local artists,and dining and social spaces, as well as boutique hotel bedrooms and suites – all housed within a spectacular Ribble Valley landscape.

Guy said: “For this project we wanted someone who was as much an artist as an architect. Gisburne Park has evolved over hundreds of years, shaped carefully over time, and it demands an architect with a genuine sensitivity to its history, landscape and character. We believe Alison has the ability to create something that sits in harmony with what already exists – enhancing and enriching the estate rather

than overwhelming it."

Set within 1,000 acres of rolling parkland, the estate was acquired by Lord Ribblesdale in 1614 and has since been owned by just two families, the Listers and, for the last 100 years, the Hindley family. The estate has welcomed many remarkable visitors, from Oliver Cromwell, marching his troops across the land during the second civil war, to Winston Churchill, the late Queen and King Charles, who regularly joined Guy’s father Christopher Hindley, to hunt and enjoy the legendary hospitality of the estate.