Quorn House – Rosemary Conley’s Headquarters, UK

Set in a 127 acre estate, Quorn House is a large country house that most recently functioned as the headquarters of the Rosemary Conley empire.

Visited December 2014   Leicestershire, UK Disused

For almost 800 years Quorndon House, or Quorn House as it is now called was the seat of the Farnham family from 1260. The second house to be built on the land of the 127 acre estate was completed in 1820. It was built with a roof sloping to a gulley terminated by a low parapet, a popular feature of that period. Edward Farnham lived to enjoy his new mansion for 15 years, and was succeeded by his son, Edward Basil, MP for North Leicestershire, who, before he died in 1879, added another wing to the house in the same style.

William Edward Farnham, his successor, also added a balancing wing, and built a ballroom on to the south end of the house. The house was then sold to his younger brother, George who demolished several of the later additions, and in the process destroyed the symmetry of the property.

The house was passed from generation to generation until 1992 when it was put up for sale for the first time in its history. Rosemary Conley purchased the property for use as the corporate headquarters of her multi-million pound empire. At its height, 55 people were employed at the house, all part of Rosemary’s production and marketing teams. A TV studio was constructed, a media centre set up and classes were held in the grand rooms. The property was also a training centre and headquarters for the franchised exercise classes and diets.

Rosemary and her husband, Mike, took on the complete renovation of the house which was in a bad state of repair, including rewiring, woodworm treatment, new heating, a complete drainage system and in recent years a new roof. The Jacobean-style interior presents the striking grandeur of dizzying ceilings and features ornate oak panelling embellished with Farnham family crests, creating an impressive backdrop for business.

Quorn House became vacant after 21 years of use as a business premises when the Conley empire collapsed and the struggling business was forced to put it on the market once again. We were lucky enough to get in a couple of years ago, and the house has since been sold.

The business end…

Most of the upstairs rooms had been used as offices for the day-to-day running of Rosemary Conley’s businesses.