Will dry rot kill Oldway Mansion?

'Sell it now' says former Torbay mayor

Torbay Council has been urged to speed up decisions on the future of Paignton’s Oldway Mansion before dry rot puts paid to the historic building.

Former Torbay mayor Gordon Oliver says it could be time to talk about selling the mansion off again, with some of its outbuildings developed for housing.

He first broached the subject of a sell-off when he was mayor five years ago.

Oldway was built for the Singer sewing machine family in the nineteenth century, and was modelled on the palace of Versailles near Paris. It hosted glittering society parties and became an up-market country club. In later years it was home to Torbay’s register office, making it one of the country’s most popular wedding locations.

But since Torbay Council closed its Oldway offices in 2013, it has been left empty. Dry rot has set in and the restoration bill has been estimated at £40 million. Bids are now being drawn up for funds to restore the mansion to its former glory, using the lower floors as public spaces and possibly turning the upper floors into luxury apartments.

Council deputy leader Cllr Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) warned last week that the council would have to ‘think outside the box’ and consider housing as part of the Oldway package for the future.

Now Mr Oliver says he would have preferred to sell the whole building on a long lease, while converting it into a mixture of luxury flats and apartments which would also be marketed on long leases.

He first proposed disposing of it while he was the bay’s elected mayor in 2018, but the move was rejected by councillors, and the following year a charitable trust was set up to investigate ways of reopening it.

Mr Oliver said: “Oldway is a huge property with approximately 200 rooms, is Grade II listed and set in 14 acres. It has had treatment for dry rot, it still has to be heated in winter, the grounds have to be maintained, the property still has to be insured and it has to be made totally secure in case of fire.

“The renovation has got to involve, at some stage, private sector investment.”

But, he said, it was vital that the grounds should remain open to the public, along with the mansion’s famous ornamental staircase. The ballroom and public rooms should stay open for events and weddings, and should include a ‘quality’ restaurant.

“It would be a prestige development which would attract many purchasers who want a slice of history,” said Mr Oliver.

“The outbuildings, which I preserved from collapse by getting the Torbay Development Agency to erect scaffolding, could be quite an attractive housing development with shared ownership, key worker and similar developments which would be extremely popular.

“Fortunately it has a good roof on it but the dry rot, if not cured properly, is a great worry.

“Applying for grants from various public bodies will never be sufficient due to its size but the longer we leave a decision on it the greater the cost and the greater the risk to the structure.”