Relishing a challenge

Holcombe Court, Devon, part II The home of Nigel Wiggins In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at the restoration of an outstanding Tudor house completed with great flair over the course of nearly two decades

- John Goodall

IN the summer of 2000, a full-page article in a Sunday newspaper advertising the sale of ‘The finest Tudor Manor in Devon’ caught the eye of Nigel Wiggins. He had made a specialism of buying up tired buildings in London— particularly those of strong architectural character—and renovating them for pension-fund clients. He arranged a visit to the house in question, more out of interest to see it than with any intention of being the purchaser, but Holcombe Court captured his imagination and, against all good sense, he made an offer to buy it.

His offer was unsuccessful and the house was set to become a wedding venue until the buyer changed his mind. The estate agent charged with selling it returned to Mr Wiggins shortly before the property was put back on the market. He was determined not to miss out a second time and the sale of the house, with just under 100 acres of land, went through. As Mr Wiggins explains: ‘On August 1, 2001, I awoke in a strange bed in an empty house, having completed the purchase the day before, with almost my only piece of furniture being a comfortable deck chair in the corner of an otherwise empty Great Hall.’ In the 19 years since he has worked slowly and steadily with a small and highly skilled team of specialists to revive the house and gardens as a home.

Early on in the project, he was shown a copy of the article on Holcombe Court published by COUNTRY LIFE on January 9, 1915. It encouraged him to hope that the magazine would return to record his development of the house. In most circumstances, the coverage of such a restoration would form the final section of a single article detailing the entire history of the building. This, however, is a project slightly out of the ordinary.