A stitch back in time from La Marche to Luton Hoo

Weavers from a small town in central France have spent months stitching together a fascinating piece of history for Luton Hoo. They are meticulously recreating copies of priceless tapestries that hung on the wall of the 18th century mansion when it was a private home.
Elite Hotels, is currently transforming Luton Hoo, the Grade 1 listed mansion on the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire border, into a five-star hotel, golf resort and spa that will open in September.

Part of the huge project to restore the mansion to its former glory includes producing tapestries, the size of the originals, which will hang in the dining room, entrance hall and first floor lobby. Each tapestry measures on average 4.5 metres by three metres, will take nearly four months to complete and include two hundred woollen yarns especially dyed to match the originals.

Overseeing the massive tapestry and art undertaking at Luton Hoo is Lisa Banholzer, director of LMB Arts, based in Camberwell Grove, London. An art consultant for more than ten years, Luton Hoo is her largest and most interesting project to date.

“Most of the time I work on hotels a floor at a time, or am involved in new build projects,” she explained. “But due to the rarity of this type of building, Luton Hoo is unique and is not the type of opportunity that has presented itself before.”

When she was faced with the challenge of commissioning new tapestries that would stand the test of time and be as beautiful as their predecessors she knew that only the best would do and turned to the town of Aubusson, in the La Marche region of France. Aubusson tapestry has been famous throughout the world since the 14th century and its origins were born with the arrival of weavers from Flanders, who took refuge in Aubusson around 1580. Today they continue to use centuries-old tapestry techniques and all the tapestries are hand-woven on hand-operated looms.

Lisa went to see the originals at Rangers House, the English Heritage property on the borders of London’s Greenwich Park that houses the Wernher Collection, a fabulous display of medieval and Renaissance works of art, all purchased by diamond magnate Sir Julius Wernher, who bought Luton Hoo in 1903.

“Firstly the tapestries were photographed in detail and prints forwarded to the weavers in France,” said Lisa. “From here they painted the picture onto the Hessian backing and then began the hand weaving.”

In addition to the tapestries, Lisa is also responsible for the paintings, prints and sculptures that will feature throughout the mansion house, the restored stable block and two new accommodation wings. The artwork will be an exciting and novel mix of traditional and contemporary works to reflect the architecture, heritage and ambience of the different buildings.

“I have kept the artwork in the mansion house relevant to its previous occupants,” said Lisa. “In each bedroom suite the art will relate to the person the room is named after and many of the other bedrooms will have studies of objets d’art now exhibited at Rangers House. They will be painted by an artist to show guests what would have originally been there, but this time in 2D format.”

LMB Arts’ previous high profile projects include selecting works of art for Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, the hotel and two-starred Michelin Restaurant owned by Raymond Blanc.

“One of the most interesting aspects of Luton Hoo has been the research involved,” said Lisa. “I have been to archives I didn’t know existed and discovered the most beautiful works of art, many of which are sadly all locked away. These include the architectural sketches of Luton Hoo by Smirke & Mewes & Davis at the Royal Institute of British Architects’ archives at London’s V&A museum and the Robert Adam drawings at the Sir John Soane Museum.”

In addition to Lisa’s year-long consultancy project at Luton Hoo, in partnership with another consultant from LMB Arts, the commissioned work has involved 20 weavers, 20 artists, two sculptors, four framers and three installers.

Graeme Bateman, Managing Director of Elite Hotels, said: “I see ourselves very much as custodians of Luton Hoo and that it is our responsibility to restore and preserve the building for future generations.

“A small army of conservation and master craftspeople, such Lisa and the team commissioned by LMB Arts, have been employed by Elite to take the mansion house’s original character and use it as the base to bring the house and surrounding estate back to life. It’s an approach which has placed the emphasis on introducing artworks that in character and sympathy with the existing mansion house and estate buildings. Great pains have been taken to create exact reproductions of paintings, sculptures and tapestries that were collected by the former owner Sir Julius Wernher. These include a striking sculpture, originally by the Italian sculptor Bergonzoli in the oval staircase hall, and copies of portraits by artists such as Beechey, Joshua Reynolds and John Singer Sargent it the public rooms.”

The reservations office at Luton Hoo is now open and when the hotel opens its doors in October it will be one of the newest members of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the consortium representing 400 of the best independent hotels in more than 65 countries.

Award-winning Elite Hotels is an independent, UK-based hotel group that owns some of the finest country house hotels in the south east of England. Since 1986 the group has invested in historic properties and carefully restored them to their original splendour. The three other hotels in the group are Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club near Wych Cross in East Sussex; The Grand Hotel at Eastbourne, also in East Sussex; and Tylney Hall Hotel near Hook in Hampshire.