Aynhoe Park, a Grade I listed Palladian mansion with a 73-acre park by Capability Brown near Banbury on the Oxfordshire-Northants border, has opened to the public for the first time, in the guise of a grandiose home-furnishing emporium complete with five restaurants and bars.
Built in 1615 and later redesigned by Sir John Soane, Aynhoe has been transformed by the Californian company RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) as the headquarters for its expansion into Europe. Located just off the M40 motorway, it will entice customers with exhibition, gallery and library spaces as well as opportunities to eat and drink.
A star-studded launch party brought Hollywood to the UK for an evening in early June to officially open the venue, which has been renamed the not-very-snappy “RH England, The Gallery at the Historic Aynho Park” (yes, the ‘e’ has been deliberately dropped and it’s now officially called Historic in case you missed quite how grand it is).
The Orangery heads the eating options, billed as a signature fine-dining restaurant that features live-fire cooking. A more informal choice for wood-fired pizza and charcuterie boards is the outdoor Loggia; the Wine Lounge offers vintages from around the world, the Tea Salon serves classic afternoon teas and there is a juice bar.
Gary Friedman, the tastemaker and ‘retail visionary’ who has been RH’s CEO for 20 years, says: “We were searching for a location that would enable us to introduce ourselves in an inspiring and unforgettable fashion, in a manner that communicated our values and beliefs and rendered our brand more valuable.
“We do believe you don’t get a second chance to make the first impression in this lifetime. And our goal was to find a magical place that resembled anything but a retail store. So far, I think we’re off to a good start. And that is what we found here: a place of wonder, enchantment, and history.”
RH is best-known Stateside for its huge gallery in New York’s Meatpacking District. In the next three years it plans to open further venues in Mayfair, Paris, Milan, two locations in Madrid, Munich, Düsseldorf, Brussels and Sydney.
