Ditchley's Elizabethan Rooms Restoration

Ditchley connects people to talk through complex problems in support of peace, freedom and order. We work towards a more dependable, open and connected world by bringing people together to bridge divides of opinion, expertise and geography. Current global crises demonstrate how urgent and important this work is today.

Taking Ditchley to the next level and sustaining it for the future demands serious resources and we are currently in the process of a full restoration project of the bedroom accommodation on the second floor in the Mansion House. This will enable us to extend world class comfort to all our guests and enhance the unique richness of Ditchley’s history including naming our bedrooms after some of the extraordinary people who have passed through the house.

Our plan is to create fifteen high quality ensuite rooms and two rooms with dedicated close neighbouring bathrooms. The restoration of the second floor will include the removal of some 1960s partition walls that divide historic panelled rooms. The panelling was taken from the earlier Tudor house on the Ditchley estate and is of very considerable historical and architectural significance. The rooms will be decorated to a high standard, combining existing furniture with new and appropriate fabrics and fittings to maintain Ditchley’s authenticity. The intention is that everyone who comes to Ditchley should have a special, evocative and democratic experience whether staying in one of the grand first floor state rooms or one of the rooms on the second floor. Thoughtful touches will reflect the person and period with which the room is to be associated. The ethos will be comfort, authenticity and historical resonance rather than outright luxury. Ditchley will always be a home, albeit a grand one, not a hotel.

We hope that all Ditchley’s friends will contribute according to their resources both now and through legacies - we have a powerful offer to the world and one which is needed now more than ever.