We are delighted that the newly refurbished The Dower House at Great Fosters Hotel is now open and accepting bookings. The Dower House is a Grade 2 listed building part of the Grade 1 listed Great Fosters Hotel owned and operated by Alexander Hotels since 2018. It’s rejuvenation was an ambition that the Great Fosters design team had been working on for several years. It now comprises of seven generous rooms and suites, all rich in original details bearing the patina of time, juxtaposed with the Great Fosters signature fabrics and furnishings, it is once again a grand yet understated residence.
MEA were proud to have provided project management and quantity surveying services to convert stores, laundry, and staff quarters to the 7 luxury en-suite bedrooms. The building was internally striped back to its original shell and restored using traditional methods to bring the building up to current standards. Works included the installation of a new ground floor slab, dry rot and damp treatment, strengthening works to the timber 1st floor while keeping its quirky uneven levels and strengthening the existing roof structure while keeping its original form/shape including replacing rotten timbers. Previously hidden features were exposed and restored.
Great Fosters is a 16th-century mansion set within a Tudor Estate steeped in royal history and originally lay within Windsor Great Park. Set in 50 acres of iconic gardens and grounds, complete with listed topiary mazes, a fountain, Saxon moat, Japanese bridge and even a sundial gifted to the Estate by Sir Francis Drake himself.
Great Fosters has been Grade I Listed since July 1951, and its gardens and parkland have been Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens since July 1988. The grounds are also home to a 17th-century Grade II listed barn which was reconstructed on the site from its original home in a field in Malden, Surrey. The Grade II listed former stables date from the 16th century and are now used as a conference centre. The formal gardens of Great Fosters were laid out in 1918 by W. H. Romaine-Walker in partnership with G. H. Jenkins, the pair also extended the house.