Parham House reveals reopening date

The team said they hope they can once again open the house’s doors on July 21, subject to Covid restrictions.

Parham’s Gardens have been open since 25th April and visitors will have noticed the extensive work the Parham Garden tteam have undertaken in the last 19 months, a spokesman said. Staff inside the house have been hard at work keeping the Elizabethan property maintained, too.

David Wise, administrator for Parham House and Gardens, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be preparing to open the House and welcome visitors in after so many months. The Gardens have been open for a few weeks and we’ve had a lovely response from people coming back to see the grounds.”

It has not all been about Garden work, though. Parham has also launched a new website in collaboration with local design and development company Speccy Media.

David added: “There is a lot to see and do at Parham and we’ve used the last 19 months to think very carefully about how to best communicate this. For many people, the website is the first contact they have with us, so it was very important for it to accurately convey our rich history and the extraordinary nature of the environment. Speccy Media has done this beautifully, and we were delighted to work with such a great team.”

Daniel Meade, of Speccy Media, said: “Often a new website is about providing a modern and contemporary feel, and this project needed to do that while also paying homage to the centuries of history visitors come to Parham House and Gardens for. We really enjoyed working with the team and we’re looking forward to a visit soon, to appreciate in person the beauty you see in the photos on the site.”

Parham traditionally holds a varied programme of activities throughout its open season and this year will be no exception. Each year a local artist is selected to spend twelve months producing works inspired by the House and Gardens as part of Parham’s Artist in Residence programme. These works are then made available for the public to view and purchase in a month-long exhibition at the end of the twelve months. This year, the artist in residence will be Diana de Vere Cole, a figurative artist whose works have been exhibited across the United Kingdom.

Parham has also been fortunate to collaborate on a virtual exhibition with renowned art dealer Adrian Sassoon. Sassoon installed a selection of works by his own artists earlier in the year and these were then filmed and photographed in situ. A selection of these pieces will return to Parham House in the summer, so that visitors can experience them in conversation with the historic collection.