People who search genealogy websites often find birth and marriage certificates, newspaper clippings, faded photos, or perhaps a long-lost relative.
Hopwood DePree found an English country house with 60 rooms.
As a child growing up in Holland, Michigan, in the 1970s, Mr. DePree was transfixed when his beloved maternal grandfather, Dad, a history buff, told him about a vast stretch of rolling land across the ocean where his ancestors built a vast expanse of land. house called Hopwood Castle.
A castle in Britain owned by his family? called for his family? Not really.
Fast forward three and a half decades. mr. DePree, then an actor and producer in Los Angeles, sat at his computer one early evening in the spring of 2013, browsing an ancestral website.
The past had become a favorite destination for him after Pap’s death in 2008 and, two years later, the sudden death of his father, Thomas, from a massive heart attack. Mr. DePree remained undisturbed, unsure of the way forward. Tracking down his roots was a comfort.
That fateful evening he saw a link to a story about a Lord Hopwood or Hopwood Hall and an old black and white photograph of a very stately home in Middleton, England, just outside Manchester. Growing in curiosity, Mr. DePree did some email inquiries and booked a flight to see the family seat firsthand.
Hopwood Hall, a 50,000-square-foot mansion built in a quadrangle around a wooden hall, had seen better centuries. The roof leaked massively, there was dry rot, moisture seeped from the walls, plaster fell from the ceilings, windows were missing, windows were missing, floors were missing planks, many parts of the house were destroyed. Trees grew out of the chimneys.
And yet… there were doors studded with rivets from the Middle Ages—some parts of the house date back to 1426—and doors with their original hand-forged hardware. The wood-panelled walls in one of the parlors were decorated from plinth to ceiling with intricate carvings. The fireplace in a room known as the foyer was embellished with a repeat of Hopwood’s coat of arms; the heraldic animal of the family, a deer; and the Hopwood family motto, “By Degrees.”
“When I walked in, I felt something inside me change almost immediately. I knew this place was special,” said Mr. DePree, 52. “But I was told on that first visit that if nothing was done, Hopwood Hall would crumble in five or ten years.”
He details his efforts to save the hall in “Downton Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle,” a memoir published late last month.
Hopwoods lived in the house until the early 1920s, according to the book. But after the two heirs died during the First World War, their grieving elderly parents closed the property and moved to London. A cotton company used the hall during World War II and in 1946 an order of monks moved in for several decades. By the late 1980s, the property had become the responsibility of the local government, which had neither the will nor the resources to maintain it. Then came Mr. DePree.
The “do-it-yourself” in the book’s title is perhaps more than a little misleading: Mr. DePree, who bears a fleeting resemblance to Owen Wilson, isn’t the guy who re-glazes the windows, plasters the walls, does the foundation stabilizes or replaces floorboards . Hopwood Hall’s longtime caretaker Bob Wall joked that the acronym really stands for “Dim Inexperienced Yank.”
But credit where credit is due: The Yank has come a long way since the humiliating moment when he found himself standing in a Los Angeles Home Depot parking lot, almost in tears because he couldn’t figure out how to work the stick-on tiles he’d made. had bought for his bathroom floor.
“I learned to mix mortar and make plaster moulds. I’ve learned to point to bricks,” said Mr. DePree, who sold his Los Angeles home five years ago and moved to Middleton full-time to delve into the conservation efforts. “But I wouldn’t say at all that I am a skilled craftsman by any imagination.”
Still, he has put in a lot of hard work since 2017, when he signed a contract with the local authority Rochdale Borough Council to take over responsibility for Hopwood Hall. (The Council had first verified its familial bona fides.) The deal gave Mr. DePree five years to come up with a feasible and fully detailed plan to save his childhood home and create a sustainable model to keep the lights on.
“His quest is really the stuff of dreams,” Council leader Neil Emmott wrote in an email. “When we first heard about Hopwood’s ambitions, we weren’t sure if they were a viable proposition. Nevertheless, we have slowly but surely seen how his hard work and determination, coupled with the help of many community volunteers, make the fantasy a reality.”
“Hopwood just felt his way when I first met him, but he has become more confident,” said Geoff Wellens, a local historian. “I truly believe that if anyone can get the job done, it’s him. It is his family’s old house. He has that family bond.”
Little by little, Mr. DePree has become the public face of the effort, the cheerleader in chief and dedicated fundraiser. Recent grants from Historic England, a government agency, and the Rochdale Borough Council total more than $1 million.
Thanks to an acquaintance, Mr DePree was also invited to become a member of Historic Houses, an association made up of the owners of many of Britain’s largest private residences. At the first meeting of the group he attended, he met the most hospitable Lord and Lady Carnarvon – “Geordie and Fiona” – the owners of Highclere Castle, where much of “Downton Abbey” was shot. He also met Julian Fellowes, the creator of “Downton Abbey” and the owner of Stafford House, a large pile on the south coast of England.
“Start with the roof,” Mr. Fellowes advised the newcomer about Hopwood Hall. “Make sure it’s dry and go from there.”
Shortly after moving to Britain, Mr. DePree started a YouTube channel, where he posted videos for friends and supporters to chart the progress of the restoration. He also wrote a one-man show about his trials and triumphs, touring comedy festivals across the country.
The price tag for the home improvement is $13 million, with annual operating expenses estimated at $800,000, Mr. DePree said. Proceeds from his show contributed to the cause; some of the royalties from his book also go there.
“Many country houses in the UK have had to find ways to reinvent themselves to keep up with the huge costs of operation, staffing and maintenance, and Hopwood Hall is on a similar path,” said Mr DePree. He hopes to turn the mansion into an arts center for the local community and a tourist destination. A wedding destination too. Hopwood Hall will have approximately 25 bedrooms to house the festivities.
There are now sometimes as many as 30 paid employees and enthusiastic volunteers in the hall on a given day. “We’re moving pretty fast,” said Mr. DePree during a recent Zoom talk as he walked through the carriage entrance, currently a waiting area for the large squares of slate that will soon pave the roof. “This year has been exciting because I’ve walked into rooms that it wasn’t safe to enter before.”
But progress is not necessarily stable. “A few weeks ago, there were indications that there might be bats in the hall, so we had to stop what we were doing immediately and get in touch with experts and do a bat survey, because bats are a protected species,” he said.
Flying mammals are among the many complications. Hopwood Hall is also a Grade 2* listed building, a Historic England designation for structures of special architectural or historic interest. As a result, walls cannot be knocked down arbitrarily; a newly discovered door cannot be opened without permission.
Gradually, Mr. DePree has come to understand that he is no longer in Los Angeles. “I’m learning about heritage skills and understand that you can’t use modern materials,” he said.
In other words, Home Depot drywall is not an option. Instead, you need to locate some goat hair and, using medieval techniques, mix it with lime mortar. And not standard windows — you have to use specific glass, Mr. DePree said, “and put it in a stained glass window, which is quite a skill in itself.”
Under the terms of his agreement with the Council, Mr. Moving DePree to Hopwood Hall as soon as it’s safe to do so — maybe this year. At some point, he officially becomes the owner of the property. “We’re getting closer to the point where it can be entrusted to me,” he said.
“Obviously the family connection was a selling point with the Council,” continued Mr. DePree. “I don’t think any of this would have happened without that connection.”
His grandfather, he said, would be proud. “He loved history and he loved his Hopwood identity,” said Mr. DePree. “Maybe in a few hundred years people will read about this project and there will be a line or two about me.”
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