The East of England has an abundance of film friendly historic houses with many unique properties.
Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a stunning Jacobean mansion with magnificent interiors dating back to the 15th century and showing evidence of the Renaissance era in the clock tower, colonnade and white stonework. The 1,000 acre estate has private roads, parkland and dense woodland, and gardens with 17th century influences. The adjacent ‘Old Palace’ retains many original medieval features.
Showreel: Shakespeare in Love; both Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies; Vanity Fair; Batman Begins; Charlie & the Chocolate Factory; The New World; Hot Fuzz; Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Band of Brothers; EastEnders.
Knebworth House
Knebworth is a spectacular Gothic fantasy with its turrets, griffins, stained glass windows and gargoyles set in 250 acres of private grounds which include a maze, converted barns, golf course, country church with graveyard, parkland, a lake, private roads and rolling fields. The gardens have Victorian and Edwardian influences.
Showreel: The Shooting Party; Batman; Love Actually; Agent Cody Banks; Nanny McPhee; 28 Weeks Later; Foyle's War, Jonathan Creek.
Elveden Hall
Elveden Hall is an extraordinary combination of Indian and Edwardian styles with its unique marble hall interior reminiscent of the Taj Mahal. The exterior of the mansion is clearly Edwardian and surrounded by parkland, farmland and vast tracks of forestry.
Showreel: Eyes Wide Shut; Vanity Fair; Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; Stardust; Dean Spanley.
Holkham Hall
Classic 18th century Palladian style stately home in 3000 acre deer park with a lake. The hall has magnificent original state rooms. The 19th century stable block has been converted into a museum, the 18th century walled gardens have been beautifully preserved and the Holkham Estate offers a beach with miles of golden sands and other classical domestic buildings.
Showreel: Dean Spanley; Kingdom; The Duchess; Barbarian Princess.
Elton Hall
Elton Hall lies at the heart of a 3,800 acre Estate made up of a mixture of property including farms, houses and cottages, commercial property and woodland. The house features different architectural sytles from its three sides including Gothic, Classical and French château.
Exterior features include a large park and river, Victorian courtyard stable block and a spectacular lime avenue. Interior, the marble hall and main staircase are remarkable examples of a mid-Victorian. The drawing room is the largest room in the house. The 18th century ceiling with its enriched cornice and frieze, but the present decoration dates from 1860.
Ickworth House, Park and Garden
Ickworth is one of the most unusual and most surprising of properties, an elegant Italianate house and gardens set within spectacular English parkland. The estate, which today comprises 1800 acres, set in idyllic grounds of tranquil beauty. The magnificent staterooms display Old Master paintings. Ickworth is also noted for its Georgian silver and Regency furniture. The kitchen garden, protected by high brick walls, is now a vineyard. The formal Italian style to the south of the house features the Gold and Silver Gardens, a Victorian Stumpery and the Temple Rose Garden. A raised terrace walk separates the south garden from the park. The extensive wooded parkland, created in part by Capability Brown, is a living landscape rich in plant, animal and bird life. The location can offer production base facilities.
Audley End House
Large Jacobean mansion built between 1605 and 1614. The Great Hall rises through two storeys and is lit by five large windows, the main architectural feature in the Great Hall is the large Jacobean oak screen at the North end. The saloon is one of the most splendid Audley interiors, it has an extravagant Jacobean plaster ceiling, an open fire, huge wall paintings and double doors leading into other rooms. The drawing room again has a Jacobean plaster ceiling and an open fire. The library has ornate decoration around the book shelves and an open fire. The house also has a dining room, picture gallery, butlers pantry, great drawing room, dining parlour, vestible, bedrooms with ensuite dressing rooms and sitting rooms, north and south lobby.
Wrest Park
This impressive house was built in the 19th century and was inspired by 18th century French Chateaux design. It is now used as offices in part but has some fantastic ground floor rooms that are not used as well as a very grand staircase. It has a vast formal garden that includes many different styles. There is a long water feature running from the main house to the baroque pavilion, woods with avenues, temples, cascade bridge, bowling green house, columns and a bath house which was built as a classic ruin.
Showreel: Flyboys.