Rood Ashton House

[1] It was redesigned and extended in 1836 by Thomas Hopper,[1] who incorporated some panelling and other material brought from another Long family property, Whaddon House, which had been rescued from a fire there the previous year.

[3] In 1914, during the First World War, Lord Long offered Rood Ashton and another of his properties, Culworth House in Northamptonshire, for use as convalescent homes for wounded soldiers and sailors.

[4] The house and the remaining 4,100 acres (17 km2) were put to auction by Lord Long's executors in February 1930, six years after his death.

2,500 acres (10 km2) were purchased by a syndicate of his tenants,[5] ending 333 years of continuous ownership by the Long family.

In the 1950s it was advertised for sale again, and the agent's details listed eleven principal bed and dressing rooms, a further thirty five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two lodges, stabling, parkland, a lake and farm of 248 acres (1.00 km2) with farmhouse and buildings, all for £35,000.

When Pevsner visited in the late 1950s or early 1960s he described the house as "now gutted and a ruin ... on a vast scale, and most impressive in its present state".

[6] In the 1970s the building was demolished except for the north wing, with eight bedrooms for servants, which has been restored with reclaimed timbers, and is now a private residence.

A servants' wing, beyond the back door of the main house, was added at the same time, under the supervision of a clerk of works called Roberts.