Historic Cannock White House restored by businessman in £1.5m makeover
A landmark Georgian house is due to re-open its doors after a £1.5 million makeover to restore the building to its former splendour.
The Grade 2*-listed White House in Cannock has been transformed into offices and apartments after lying empty since it was put up for sale by South Staffordshire College two years ago.
Workmen have been at the site for the last four months and the project has seen period features such as sash windows installed and considerable repairs carried out.
New owner, businessman Fred Pritchard, will base his property company, Anglesey Real Estate, there. Also opening are a restaurant called Desert and a photographic studio, while a wing of the building is given over to a beauty therapy business, The Sanctuary.
In addition, part of the property has been converted into eight apartments, both one and two bedroomed, including a garden apartment overlooking the grounds.
Mr Pritchard said he was proud of the standard of the restoration.
Sensitive
"It has included replacement of period features such as plastering using traditional methods and materials, and replacing modern windows which were out of character with the building," he said.
"Considerable roof repairs, thermal and sound insulation upgrades, structural repairs, utilising modern structural methods to stabilise the walls, have also been carried out.
"All in all, it has been a sensitive undertaking of what many Cannockians regard, with the exception of St Luke’s Church,as the finest building in the town."
The grounds and existing car park are also due to be overhauled.
The building has gone though several different guises since it was built as a family home in 1783 for Sir Robert Fisher, with the distinction of being the first house in Cannock to have its own water pump.
Among its occupants have been Captain William Cary, who attended nearby Rugeley Grammar School and became Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, and one of the town’s biggest ever employers, businessman Frederick Gilpin, who owned several factories in the district.
During the 1800s, the White House became a ladies’ boarding school and changed hands several more times until it was bought in 1927 by Cannock Urban District Council who opened part of the building as a registry office.
Mr Pritchard had hoped to restore it as a wedding venue but potential operators were put off by planning restrictions on the historic building. In the 1980s it was acquired by the county council for Cannock Chase Technical College.
The Sanctuary opened this week and the rest of the businesses will be up and running within the month he said.
