30 Jun 5 years of transformation.
6 years ago Rebecca and William Perry would never have thought they would be 5 years into owning, running and renovating a Grade II listed hotel.
And yet over the last five years they have taken The Eagle House Hotel, this once rundown, unloved property being considered for housing development, and painstakingly brought it back to its former glory.
For those that haven’t visited, Eagle House Hotel is a Grade II* listed building in Castle Street, Launceston, Cornwall.
Formerly a grand Georgian, red brick townhouse steeped in history. Did you know the famous Cornish poet Charles Causley, even wrote about the eagle statues that guard the gates of the property
The building dates back to 1764, having been commissioned as a townhouse by Coryndon Carpenter, a former mayor of Launceston and the constable of Launceston Castle. Reputedly the house was partly financed by a £10,000 lottery win. In 1963 the building was converted into a hotel, also equipped with a restaurant area.
In 2017, upon hearing the news that Launceston’s grand hotel was to be sold off and considered for residential development, Rebecca and William stepped forward (not really having an idea what they were taking on) to save this community icon.
Despite having no experience in hospitality, or Grade II renovations Rebecca, a gilder and commercial artist and her husband William, a farmer, knew they simply had to keep The Eagle House Hotel…a hotel!
Over the last 5 years they have renovated the hotel room by room as funds allowed, restoring original period features and seamlessly blending them with new. Adding and repurposing rooms, as well as diversifying and bringing industry back into the town in the form of a gin distillery into the new bar (that’s a whole other blog so look out for it.)
On top of this, they have been able to keep the hotel, restaurant and distillery open to the community, and only closing during the enforced shutdown during covid.
It is easy to forget just how far they have come, and many guests who had not visited the hotel previously would never have known just how enormous the project was.
If you are thinking of visiting Cornwall, or simply passing through Launceston, Rebecca and William would be delighted to host you for eating in their gastro restaurant, drinking in the view while sipping on their Eagle One Gin, or staying in one of their 14 light and airy bedrooms.