American actor’s dream of owning ancestral home dashed

An American actor’s dreams of restoring his ancestral home to its former glory have been dashed after the council that owns the 15th-century manor pulled out of the deal.

Hopwood DePree moved from Hopwood DePree in 2017 after discovering that the Grade II listed Hopwood Hall in Middleton had been in his family for around 400 years. Los Angeles moved to Rochdale.

But the 54-year-old said he spent around £580,000 renovating the run-down country house with 60 rooms, and claimed Rochdale Borough Council has now terminated an agreement to sell it to him.” The rug was removed from under his feet”.

The council said Mr Despres had no “viable” plans for the future of the building.

Mr. DePree, who is from Michigan, said he had heard his grandfather tell stories about Hopwood Hall as a child.

He believed the stories about the house – reportedly lived in by Guy Fawkes and Lord Byron and owned by the Hopwood family until the First World War – were just fairy tales.

But when he discovered this family connection, he decided to try to buy the building and transform it into an arts and events center.

Rochdale Council gave him a “limited occupation license” and an option to buy the building.

Since 2017, around £1.7 million has been allocated by councils and heritage bodies such as Historic England for restoration and refurbishment.

Mr De Pree received planning permission for his scheme in 2022, the same year he wrote Downton Abbey, which chronicled his efforts to revive the estate.

He said he believed he had viable plans for the future of the building and had been discussing his idea of ​​hosting hospitality skills training there with hotel and catering companies.

But he was surprised to learn that at a closed-door meeting last week the council decided to withdraw from the arrangement.

Mr Depre said the building had been derelict for many years under the council’s jurisdiction.

He said: “The council took over the hall in the 1990s and over the last 20-odd years it has fallen into complete disrepair, so for us to turn that around and restore the building to its former glory is a fantastic opportunity. Incredible challenge.

Mr De Pree, who directed and starred in the 1999 comedy The Last Great Attraction, said the council told him that as the auditorium was completely surrounded by the grounds of Hopwood Hall Academy it needed its own separate access.

He said he had been working on how to make that happen when the city council decided not to move forward with the deal.

Mr Depre, who believes the agreement is legally binding, said he wanted details on the reasons for the council’s decision before deciding on next steps.

Rochdale Council said it had agreed to sell the building to De Pre for a “nominal fee” if he could come up with a viable business plan and had renewed and extended the agreement several times.

But this week, the cabinet decided not to extend the scheme after advisers commissioned by the cabinet said it was “unlikely to receive future public or private funding” for Depre’s scheme.

A council spokesman said Mr De Pree had been unable to come up with a viable proposal “despite having spent seven years developing a viable proposal and receiving advice and support from the council and Rochdale Development Authority during that time” proposal.

A spokesman said this meant the council had a “responsibility to explore alternatives” to “protect the public money invested to date”.