Paris House Potsgrove

Paris House about 1900 [X21/760/18]

Despite standing in Woburn Park and generally assumed to be a part of Woburn, Paris House is in the parish of Potsgrove. It was listed by English Heritage in March 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. A plaque on the front elevation reads: "This house was built at London by William Cubitt and Company for the Universal Exhibition holden at Paris in the Year of Grace MDCCCLXXVIII". The architect was Gilbert R
Redgrave. Hastings 9th Duke of Bedford bought it and transferred it to the estate. It has rrnate mock timber framing with colourwashed plaster infill, “very much in style of 16th and 17th century decorative timber-framing in Lancashire and Cheshire”. The two storey structure is built in a T-shape and comprises two storeys.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting Parish House [DV1/C140/38] found that it was vacant. It contained a hall, a dining room, a downstairs bedroom, a drawing room which had been used as a bedroom and a kitchen with three more bedrooms upstairs along with a bathroom. The valuer commented: “Looks bigger than is”. From at least the time it was listed until the time of writing [2013] Parish House has been an up-market restaurant.