Plan to sell Wakefield Grade II-listed building: '˜I still love it ...but it needs someone else to take it on now'

A couple who bought Lupset Hall four years ago, the Grade II-listed former home of Wakefield's first MP, have decided to sell it after ploughing thousands of pounds into its renovation.
Nahim Hussain at Lupset Hall.Nahim Hussain at Lupset Hall.
Nahim Hussain at Lupset Hall.

Nahim Hussain and his partner Karen Shurrock planned to convert the hall into a five-bedroom home for their family.

But Mr Hussain said the scale of the project and the impracticality of commuting from his home in Bradford have taken their toll on his health and the quality of his family life and he has decided the time is right to sell on the historic house.

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“I don’t regret buying the house,” he said. “I fell in love with the place and I have spent many hours in the rooftop garden looking out over the golf course, it’s lovely and peaceful.

Lupset Hall - picture care of Kate Taylor's Wakefield District HeritageLupset Hall - picture care of Kate Taylor's Wakefield District Heritage
Lupset Hall - picture care of Kate Taylor's Wakefield District Heritage

“I still love it and don’t really want to sell it but it needs someone to take it on who has more energy than me to be able to restore it to its former glory. It’s a big task but is worth it for the right person.”

The 18th-century house located off Horbury Road dates back to 1716. It was bought for the Gaskell family in 1806 and remained in their ownership until 1927 when the hall and its lands were sold to the corporation of Wakefield for £6,370.

The first member of the Gaskell family to own Lupset Hall was Daniel Gaskell, the building’s most notable proprietor.

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Born in 1782, he was a radical and a non-conformist, and was a noted social reformer who was elected as Wakefield’s first MP in December 1832.

He was re-elected in January 1835 and served until July 1837. He was still living at the hall until his death in 1875.

After his death, Lupset Hall passed to his great-nephew Gerald Milnes Gaskell and it was when Gerald’s widow died in 1926 that the council took over ownership. In 1936 the parkland surrounding Lupset Hall was converted into a municipal golf course and the hall itself became the clubhouse until 2013.

The property which is now on sale with Wakefield estate agents Holroyd Miller for £600,000 consists of the original two-storey house with an extension built in the 1970s for the golf club. The impressive staircase is still in place and it has five reception rooms, eight bedrooms and four bathrooms.

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A spokesman for Holroyd Miller said: “Lupset Hall has a tremendous amount of potential both as a residential home (subject to a change of use) or as a commercial building for use as perhaps a company’s headquarters.”