Little Houghton House
General information
TypeManor house
LocationLittle Houghton, Northamptonshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates52°13′46″N 0°49′20″W / 52.229503°N 0.822093°W / 52.229503; -0.822093
Completed1685 and 1825
Renovated1992 & 2015
OwnerThe Strowbridge Family
LandlordOwner
Technical details
Floor count3
Floor area18,500 square ft
Listed Building – Grade II

Little Houghton House is a Grade II*-listed, nineteenth century Manor House with parts going back to 1685.[1] The house has been owned by notable people, including Cecil Davidge and Christopher Davidge, both of whom served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire and Deputy Lieutenants of Northamptonshire.[2]

History

The village of Little Houghton

Little Houghton House was built initially in 1685 as a summerhouse for the Ward Family following their support for James II of England.[1] The Ward family owned it continuously until the 1800s when Christopher Smyth bought the House from the last remaining Wards living at the house for his nephew William Tyler Smyth.[3] Smyth was a descendant of the Smyths of Elkington Hall who had settled at that house since the middle 14th Century.[3] Smyth renovated and enlarged the house in 1825 making it a north-east park facing house, using Kingsthorpe stone and stone from Horton Hall.[4][5]

By descent, William Tyler Smyth passed the house to his eldest son, William Smyth who served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, and died without children so it went to his younger brother, the Rev. Christopher Smyth, Vicar of Little Houghton, then to his son Christopher Smyth who also served as High Sheriff.[3] Christopher Smyth only had daughters however, so the house and estate went to his eldest daughter Ursula Catherine and her husband Cecil Vere Davidge who also served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.[2] Davidge was himself a descendant of both the Smyths of Elkington and also of the Wards of Little Houghton.[3] On Cecil Vere's death in 1981, the house passed to his son Christopher Guy Vere Davidge who followed his father as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.[2]

Following the death of Christopher Davidge, the house was put up for sale in 2016 by the estate agents Fisher German and was bought by the present owners, the Strowbridge Family.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Little Houghton House - Bedford Road, Little Houghton, Northamptonshire, UK". Waymarking.com. Groundspeak Inc.
  2. 1 2 3 Burke, Bernard, Sir (1965). Burke's Landed Gentry; Volume II. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 141.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Burke, Bernard, Sir (1906). Burke's Landed Gentry. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 1548. Retrieved 3 August 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2002). Northamptonshire (2 ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 293–94. ISBN 9780300096323.
  5. ↑ "LITTLE HOUGHTON HOUSE AND ATTACHED OFFICE WING". Historic England. Historic England. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Brankin-Frisby, Joy. "Case Study: Sale of Little Houghton House". Fisher German. Fisher German.
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