Stately home destroyed in suspected arson attack

AN ELIZABETHAN mansion remodelled by Regency architect John Nash has been destroyed by fire after a suspected arson attack.

Built in 1522, Parnham House, a Grade I listed property in Beaminster, Dorset, was home to the Strode family for 200 years.

The mansion, now owned by an Austrian hedge-fund manager, was engulfed by flames in the early hours yesterday.

Twenty fire crews attended amid fears that 18th- and 19th-century paintings could have been destroyed or damaged. Dorset Police said no one was injured in the blaze, which the force is treating as suspicious.

Photographer Graham Hunt, who witnessed the fire, said: “From what I could tell it looks like the roof is just completely standing.”

Michael Treichl and his wife Emma bought the mansion from furniture designer John Makepeace in 2001.

Mr Treichl is a founding partner of London-based hedge fund Audley Capital Advisors.

Much of the property’s current design was created by Nash, who worked on the 19th-century enlargement of Buckingham Palace.

His work on the stately home, which sits in grounds that include stone statues and topiary, can be recognised in the distinctive winding staircases and stone-mullioned windows.

Andrew Vines, planning director for Historic England in the South West said: “Our conservation architects and engineers will be ready to advise if needed on the best ways of conserving what remains of the building.” gone, just the walls left Fire crews attend the dramatic scene in the early hours of the morning, above. Daylight exposed the extent of the damage, left, with reportedly ‘just the walls standing’