A Short History of Paschoe House
Paschoe House is located near Crediton in the heart of Devon, set amongst twenty-five acres of wild landscapes with views over a large lake and as far as Dartmoor. A grade II listed gentry house of mid-nineteenth century origin, Paschoe House was designed by the famous architect John Hayward in the Tudor Gothic style.
The Pascoe Estate was first recorded in 1611 and the original house was built in the 13th Century near the lake that you can see today. In the late eighteenth century, it was noticed to be subsiding in its position, so the decision was made to move the house to higher and more sturdy ground – this is where you see it today.
At some point in 19th Century, the “h” was added to Pascoe making it Paschoe.
The original Pascoe House was acquired in 1611 by the prolific Hamlyn family who also owned seats at Clovelly, Langdon Court and Leawood.
They employed the architect John Hayward who was the official architect of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society and who also designed Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter Prison and The Hall in the Chapel Quad (Pembroke College, Oxford University).
Paschoe remained Hamlyn property from 1611 to 1948, a whopping 337 years and approximately 6 generations.
In 1787, there are records of the well-known Devonian, Uncle Tom Cobley, visiting Mr Christopher Hamlyn (then a country solicitor) residing in the original Pascoe House to draw up Tom Cobley’s will and testament. Uncle Tom was a well-to-do yeoman of the parish of Spreyton where he owned lands and a good sum of money. It is told that Old Tom, in his 90s, was very suspicious about signing his will as both his sight and hearing were failing him. He had been to another solicitor prior to Mr Hamlyn and didn’t trust him. He did, however, trust Mr Hamlyn and happily signed his will.
The last generation of the Hamlyn family opened Paschoe’s gates to 75 evacuee children from North London during World War II.
The next owner was a Frank Surgey, a Bond Street antiques dealer who only owned Paschoe for 10 years. Unfortunately, in his guardianship Paschoe lost its west wing to dry rot, which split the huge L-shaped property into 2 separate properties: Paschoe House and Paschoe Cottage. In 1958 a farming family by the name of Blake bought the Estate and lived there and farmed the land until 2000.
In 2000, the Amador family bought the estate, and enjoyed it as it was, not changing much inside or out until 2006 when the patriarch of the family took on the admirable but mammoth task of renovating the House and trying to maximise the amount of leisure and pleasure one could get out of the land.
He built a tennis court, excavated the Victorian walled garden to the west of the property, built a garage and office space, a large stable yard and corrected the west wing demolition of Mr. Surgey making the house one large L-shaped property again. In 2009 at the peak of the credit crisis work at Paschoe House had to stop. The house was left derelict for 8 years.
It was during this time that Mr Amador’s daughter, Tabitha, decided that the beautiful Paschoe House couldn’t simply be left to go to wrack and ruin. She was determined to restore the house to its former glory but with a knowledge that these big houses don’t pay for themselves, she needed a plan to make it do just that. It wasn’t until 2014 that Tabitha dedicated her full attention to Paschoe and undertook the planning permission required, which was approved in 2016. Tabitha then project managed the renovation process and designed all the interiors you see today.
Tabitha now manages the day-to-day here at Paschoe House ensuring that her high standards of service and presentation are upheld.
Tabitha Fern, Founder
“I believe I have carefully restored and transformed Paschoe House into the stunning luxury hotel that you see today. I have a real passion for interior design and although some of my creations are a little eccentric, I hope you enjoy the traditional/modern mix and that it makes you feel relaxed and at home here with us.”
