 MOVING your family to the other side of the country isn’t a decision taken lightly but when Louise and Dan Ball were headhunted to manage Eshott Hall in Northumberland, they jumped at the chance. The couple moved into one of the hall’s cottages two months ago with their children Alexandra, three, and Archie, one, to oversee the renovations. "It’s fantastic," says Louise, who used to run a marquee business in Bath and trained in furniture design and space planning. "We’ve had a few days out and there’s just so much here. It’s slightly undiscovered." Eshott Hall was previously the home of North East businessmen Ho Sanderson and his wife Margaret. Mr Sanderson, whose business empire went into administration last year, was killed in a level crossing accident in March. The Hall was bought in January for more than the £3m guide price by clergyman-turned-entrepreneur Robert Parker, 66, who lives with his wife Gina on their 800-acre Tedsmore agricultural estate at Oswestry, near Shrewsbury. In 2007 the wealthy couple had acquired the 700-acre Guyzance Estate near Acklington, including the Grade II-listed Guyzance Hall, for £7m. Guyzance – which is just a few miles from Eshott – is now used as their second home, and is also run as a luxury holiday let and wedding venue. "We hadn’t thought about moving," says Louise. "But Robert and Gina asked ‘how do you fancy moving to Northumberland?’ We got here and we were absolutely enchanted. It’s a really magical house." Eshott Hall boasts 11 bedrooms and six reception rooms, and is set within 35 acres of exquisite gardens and grounds which include a tennis court, fernery, lake and kitchen garden. It also includes three holiday cottages and one self-contained apartment, once graced by A-listers Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin when they attended Chris’s brother’s wedding. Louise’s vision has been crucial to the £600,000 refurbishment. "It was already in great condition," she says. "The majority of the work has been putting in en suite bathrooms, buying new furniture and re-dressing the rooms. If I see an empty room I can see it dressed in my mind’s eye." Designed and built between 1588 and 1600, Eshott Hall and its surrounding estate were bought in 1877 by Emerson Bainbridge, founder of the famous Newcastle department store who later enlarged and improved the building, making it one of the most elegant houses in Northumberland. As the Hall is packed with historic features, such as the sumptuous plasterwork in the drawing room and the rare William Morris stained glass window in the hall, getting the tone of the décor right was a delicate balancing act. But Louise and Dan are no strangers to period properties as they lived in a Georgian house in Bath for 12 years. | 
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