Hirst, to the Manor, borne
ABOVE: a view of Toddington Hall, Gloucestershire, the disused 300-room country house just purchased by Damien Hirst and family.
Damien Hirst, who is accurately but rather simplistically referred to by The Guardian as a “sometime shark-pickler and cow-halver,” is the newest member of the English landed gentry, having purchased a fixer-upper of a mansion in Gloucestershire. Toddington Hall, built in the early 19th century, sprawls over 124 acres and cost Hirst £3 million, but people who know about such things are pegging the cost of refurbishment—the pile has sat empty since 1989 and, much like the English landed gentry, is looking a little frayed around the edges—at £10 million. Keep pickling, Damien.
Hirst has said that he bought Toddington to hold his own considerable collection of art, and apparently the locals are quite happy that the 300-room gothic monsterpiece will stay in private hands, instead of being converted into a hotel or a cooking school, as has been threatened in the past. Once restored, the Manor will serve as a museum of Hirst’s own work and a venue for showing off his collection of other artists’. We’re hoping there’s an elderly butler hanging around the place supervising the installation of pickled megafauna; it would be just like The Remains of the Day, with the pun intended.