Downton Shabby - Hopwood DePree's memoir about restoring historic Hopwood Hall published

‘Downton Shabby’ Hopwood DePree’s memoir about his humorous and heart-warming adventures of moving from Hollywood to the borough of Rochdale to rescue his dilapidated 600-year-old ancestral home, Hopwood Hall Estate, has been published (Thursday 9 June).

Hollywood producer Hopwood DePree had been told as a boy that an ancestor – who he was named after – had left his family’s English castle in the 1700s to come to America.

One night after some wine and a visit to Ancestry.com, Hopwood discovered a photograph of a magnificent English estate with a familiar name: Hopwood Hall.

This 60-room, 600-year-old Grade-II* listed manor which had originally sat on 5,000 acres in Middleton was soon to turn DePree’s life into a fairy-tale.

Downton Shabby – the name Hopwood coined for the glorious ruin – traces DePree’s adventures as he gives up his Hollywood life and moves permanently to England to save Hopwood Hall from ruin. He soon discovers the task is far too big for any one person.

When he joins forces with an unforgettable cast of new neighbours he can call on for help and with local aristocrats who (sort of) come to accept Hopwood as one of their own, together they navigate the trials and triumphs of the hall’s ongoing restoration and renovation.

 

 

The American actor and comedian, with no carpentry experience or real ties to England beyond the hall itself, now has an exclusive legal agreement with the council to enable him to rescue the 12th century manor.

He will then assume full possession of his ancestral home, which has lain vacant for 30 years and is now on Historic England’s 'At Risk' register.

As he puts it: “I couldn’t be the Hopwood, after all the centuries of Hopwoods, to let the hall disappear on my watch.” 

Hopwood Hall was lost from the Hopwood family in the early 20th century when the last two male heirs in England were tragically killed in action in World War One.

Over the years, the hall fell into disrepair, inching ever closer to ruin. The English Hopwoods were long gone and, generations later, the American branch of the family had lost track that the Hall still existed, other than DePree’s grandfather who told him the ‘stories’.

'Downton Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle' details Hopwood's extraordinary journey and efforts to save Hopwood Hall.

The Picnic on the Lawn at Hopwood Hall on Saturday 18 June celebrates the publication of the book Downton Shabby: you can take a tour of some of the rooms inside Hopwood Hall to chat to volunteers who are helping to rescue the hall and learn about the work that they have been doing.

Advanced booking is required for this event.

Downton Shabby is published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, is available in hardback from Waterstones and Amazon. It is also published in audiobook and ebook formats.