Glingerbank, the house at the heart of the 1,400-acre Glinger estate, has a history of being admired rather than cherished.

After all, how many people really want to live in a huge former Victorian rectory with 13 bedrooms? Certainly not Richard Westoll who owns the estate which includes 23 other houses.

Richard and his wife Juliet, a former High Sheriff of Cumbria, choose to live in a pretty, and much smaller, farmhouse on the estate near Longtown.

Glingerbank housed Richard’s Uncle Guy and Aunt Joan. When Joan died seven years ago, the house stayed empty for five years while Richard debated what on earth to do with it.

Glingerbank was just too big for its own good. It belonged to a previous, grander era. In the 1950s, when it was owned by Richard’s grandfather, it was run like a mini Downton Abbey accommodating a butler, footman, a couple of cooks and a personal maid for each member of the family.

Richard’s grandfather, a shipping magnate from the north east, had bought the house and estate at the end of World War One in order to pursue his passion for fishing and shooting.

Before that it had been used as a shooting lodge by the Grahams of Longtown. The land on which Glingerbank is built had been taken from the Duke of Cumberland by Charles I and handed to his pals, the Grahams.

Glingerbank’s illustrious past was no help to Richard when he became responsible for it. Instead he was confronted with a rather austere house with painted floorboards and minimal comfort.

“I admit I even toyed with the idea of pulling it down - but apart from the fact that it is also home to some rare breeds of bats, I was aware that it is a local landmark and Juliet vetoed that idea,” he says.

Instead, Richard has spent the best part of two years restoring Glingerbank. He has turned it into a showstopping lodge which he has just started renting out for weddings, corporate events, family gatherings or shooting parties.

The 13 bedrooms are now matched with 13 bathrooms. The bedrooms are all similar - chintzy curtains made with material sourced at Carlisle’s Stead McAlpin, large comfortable beds which can be zipped together, neutral colour schemes and walls adorned with pretty watercolours.

Most are spacious. The attic bedroom, which once housed four maids, is now an attractive large bedroom with portal windows overlooking the west side of the extensive gardens. When Richard inherited the house, barely a stick of furniture remained as his aunt had left most of her possessions to her various nieces and nephews.

He set about furnishing the 1,000 square metres of floor space by scouring all the Cumbrian auction rooms, acquiring quality antique pieces for a song.

Now the large square oak-panelled hall houses a circular table with a large green glass vase which belonged to Richard’s aunt. The Oak Room is 14m by 6m with large bay windows with fitted seats and there is also a smaller pretty sitting room with a magnificent chandelier repaired and rebuilt by Richard and then painstakingly cleaned.

Where possible Richard has retained original fittings, such as like the light brackets in the study which add to the Edwardian aura.

Glingerbank may have been designed as a shooting lodge in the early 19th century but today it comes into its own in the summer.

The three-acre garden includes a beautiful rockery, large greenhouse and leads to surrounding woodland walks. There is a disused outdoor swimming pool with restoration a future project.

But the moveable outdoor hot tub may be more in keeping with today’s less Spartan tastes.

“We absolutely had to get a hot tub. Most guests expect a hot tub,” says Richard. Goodness knows what the old butler would have made of that.

l www.glingerbank.co.uk

JANE LOUGHRAN