The boss of Soho House has been accused of attempting to build a Disneyland-style mansion in a small village in the Cotswolds, with the plans being described by residents as “grotesque”.
Ron Burkle, 71, a Californian businessman who is executive chairman of the private members’ club chain, has made an application to build a country house in Little Tew, a village between Chipping Norton and Banbury.
The parish of Little Tew, which no longer has a pub or any shops, consists of about 150 houses and a church.
Three volumes of plans describe how Serpentine Lodge will modernize classic architecture in Oxfordshire, drawing influence from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in addition to the “distinct significance of baroque in Oxford”.
Using locally quarried stone, the six-bedroom home will have a gun room, lift and entertainment room, as well as a swimming pool, stables, solar panels and new lake.
West Oxfordshire district council rejected Burkle’s original proposal in 2022 because it failed to meet specific planning criteria and did not represent a “truly outstanding development”. Objections to his resubmission in August claim that the plans have barely changed.
“Rather than being a development of ‘truly outstanding quality’, I believe it to be a proposal of truly outstanding grotesquery,” one neighbor wrote, claiming the construction would have a negative impact on wildlife.
“Adjectives which many have voiced and which seem more appropriate would be ‘ludicrous’ and ‘monstrous’,” they added.
“I believe it to be a proposal of truly outstanding grotesquery.”
“The new design continues to be a pastiche,” said another objection. “It takes design elements from numerous stately homes, large public buildings and Oxford colleges, and amalgamates too many features into a design more suited to Disneyland and is, therefore, an insult to the RIBA … No consideration has been given to buildings in local villages, many of which have stood for centuries.”
A comment from the Little Tew parish consultation reads: “This development does nothing for the local area or its inhabitants, but has the potential to cause irreversible destruction to extensive flora and fauna, and the conservation area in which it thrives.”
Other objections described the design as “domineering” and claimed its approval would mean “the history and uniqueness of Little Tew will be lost for ever”.
Burkle bought a majority stake in Soho House in 2012. Its 42 clubs include Soho Farmhouse, a 100-acre retreat only a few miles from Little Tew.
Lara Wildenberg is a reporter at The Times of London
