Foxcote House

Foxcote House
Foxcote House
	Foxcote House from the driveway
	Location within Warwickshire
General information
Location	Ilmington, near Shipston-on-Stour
Town or city	Warwickshire
Country	England
Coordinates	52.074497°N 1.710569°W
Completed	Early 18th century

Foxcote House is an 18th-century detached country house in the village of Ilmington, near Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, England. It has been a Grade II* listed property since September 1952.[1]

The house has 11 bedrooms, five bathrooms, with a suite and two dressing rooms. It also has a large hall with a mezzanine gallery. The front of Foxcote House contains large gardens.[2]

The house was constructed c.1740, its design has been attributed to Edward Woodward. It was traditionally the family seat of the Canning family; ten generations of the Canning family resided at the house until the death of Robert Canning in 1848.[1][3] Foxcote House was occupied by a private school before its purchase in the 1960s by Christopher Boot Holman, an heir of the pharmaceutical retail company Boots the Chemist. The Holmans restored the house and it was sold by them in 1997 to the American billionaire Les Wexner. The 1997 sale price has been quoted as £3 million or £8 million.[2][4] The Wexners attend the annual pheasant shooting season each October and host traditional British shooting parties in a former Catholic chapel that adjoins the house. The Foxcote House estate has been valued at £20 million.[2]

The Wexners have refurbished the house and have purchased surrounding land to restore its estate. The Wexners are financial supporters of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and in a video tour of Foxcote House made for the international company of the RSC, it is stated that at the time of the Wexner's purchase, the top floor of the house had been sealed off for 50 years and the house was in a state of "complete dilapidation". In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Sarah Holman, the daughter of Christopher Boot Holman, said that the Wexners "have spent a fortune on new windows and they have done lots of marvellous things" but that they had also turned the house into a "...glorified shooting lodge. It is not what I would have called fabulous inside."[2]

References

Historic England. "Foxcite House (1024118)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
Adam Luck and Robert Mendick (24 October 2015). "Billionaire tycoon behind Victoria's Secret 'keeps his multi-million Cotswolds estate away from prying eyes'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
Salzman, L. F., ed. (1949). "Parishes:Ilmington". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 5, Kington Hundred. Victoria County History. British History Online. pp. 98–103. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
Loose, Amanda (8 January 1997). "The tax breaks that help the new land owner". The Times (65781). p. 10. Retrieved 12 November 2015 – via The Times Digital Archive.

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[EngHet-1] Historic England. "Foxcite House (1024118)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

[TelegOct15-2] Adam Luck and Robert Mendick (24 October 2015). "Billionaire tycoon behind Victoria's Secret 'keeps his multi-million Cotswolds estate away from prying eyes'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

[vch-3] Salzman, L. F., ed. (1949). "Parishes:Ilmington". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 5, Kington Hundred. Victoria County History. British History Online. pp. 98–103. Retrieved 12 November 2015.

[4] Loose, Amanda (8 January 1997). "The tax breaks that help the new land owner". The Times (65781). p. 10. Retrieved 12 November 2015 – via The Times Digital Archive.