Finally resting easier
When Grays Court was named best small hotel by VisitBritain in 2020, it was the recognition of 17 years of hard work for owner Helen Heraty for whom it has been a labour of love which has cost her dear and consumed her life. Catherine Scott meets her. Pic
Standing in the shadow of York Minster, there can hardly be a more picturesque setting for a hotel than that afforded Grays Court. Behind the historic doors stands a nine-bedroom hotel and the Michelin-recognised Bow Room restaurant. But all this has come at a price for the woman behind this epic restoration, mother-ofseven Helen Heraty. Heraty, along her with architect partner John Edwards, bought Grays Court from the College of Ripon and St John in 2005 with the plan of creating an exclusive bed and breakfast.
“We couldn’t believe it. John went to look round it for a client and we thought this is it,” recalls Heraty. “It was in need of a complete renovation and rewiring but the location and the potential was clear to see. We just fell in love and could see ourselves living in it as we got older.”
Heraty was no stranger to property development and running B&Bs and had built up a decent property portfolio, including running her own B&B in Green Hammerton.
She and Edwards combined their finances and bought the Grade I-listed building which borders York’s historic city walls. And so Edwards, who had a child from a previous marriage, and a pregnant Heraty and six children from a previous relationship moved into the 70-plus room building.
“The only habitable place was the caretaker’s flat which we all lived in while we went about trying to get the funding together to start the major renovations,” says Heraty. “The children used to camp out in one of the rooms, make a mess and then move onto the next one. We wanted to put everything back to the way it should be.”
The house was built towards the end of the 11th century, by Thomas of Bayeux’s Treasurer . The treasurer acted as guest master for visiting dignitaries; three treasurers went on to be Royal Chancellors and a further two Archbishops of York. Grays Court is the oldest inhabited house in York and has witnessed political favours courted by mediaeval Minster treasurers and three royal visits. The house in Minster Yard became “Grays Court” when William and Faith Gray moved in in 1788.
It was therefore, with the weight of history and the eyes of York on them, that Heraty and Edwards took on the daunting task of turning their dream into a reality.
Much of what happened over the next five years was the subject of a BBC documentary called Folie à Deux: Madness Made of Two .It was filmed over five years and followed the family dream of transforming the crumbling monument into an exclusive historic hotel.
Unfortunately, with a huge bank loan in place, the credit crunch hit and the dream became a living nightmare, fuelled by a battle with their neighbours.
The film was born in late 2007, with a chance meeting in a York pub, and culminated five years later in selection for the 25th anniversary International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam, the Cannes of the documentary world.
There, it was picked up by Storyville, the BBC’s pre-eminent documentary strand, as well as other A-list film festivals.
Yorkshire-born writer Simon Beaufoy, an Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire, watched the film, loved it (“it’s a stunning commentary on the mess we’re in – really powerful)” and became an executive producer.
“I do cringe when I watch it now,” admits Heraty. “At the time we thought it was just going to be a short piece and we thought there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
The documentary focuses on the banks refusing to lend them the money they need to complete the refurbishment when the recession hit.
But worse was still to come. Constant battles with York Council planners, who said they did not have the relevant planning permission to operate as a hotel, put untold strain on Edwards, says Heraty, culminating in her partner collapsing and dying in front of her.
It turned out they did have the correct permission and the family was allowed to continue. But Edwards had died intestate and the banks once again threatened Heraty with foreclosure.
“When John died, we’d just opened our first bedroom. The banks said the loan was in our joint names and threatened to pull the funding,” says Heraty. “But I was in too deep to pull out. What choice did I have but to continue? I had to put a roof over my children’s heads if nothing else.”
Heraty does admit, however, that Grays Court has become far more than just a business for her, saying: “It does get under your skin.”
Whenever she made any money, it would go back into renovating and opening another bedroom. By 2015, nine rooms had been opened and Grays Court was starting to make a name for itself. In 2020 all Heraty’s hard work paid off when Grays Court was named Small Hotel of the
Year by VisitBritain. “I couldn’t believe it,” she