A Hollywood filmmaker has become embroiled in a High Court battle over his family's crumbling estate, dubbed 'Downton Shabby'. Hopwood DePree, 56, has become embroiled in a legal battle with a council over his ancestral family home, after finding himself locked out of the building despite putting in years of hard labour to restore it.
The Discovery and Restoration Efforts
The movie producer discovered his long-lost family home in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 2013 while researching his ancestry and having heard stories about the mysterious 'Hopwood Castle'. He found it in a derelict state with broken windows, collapsing ceilings and water running down the walls. Four years later, he said he struck a deal with Rochdale Council to take ownership of the property and bring it back into good condition. In 2022, the American was granted permission to turn the property into an events and hospitality venue and invested around £750,000 into its restoration.
The Dispute with the Council
However, despite years of work to restore the crumbling property, he claims the council has now locked him out. The council, however, says it has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds into the building and is now 'exploring alternative options'. The dispute is now set to be decided in court, where judges will decide the future of the Grade II-listed Hopwood Hall - and whether Mr DePree met the terms of an agreement with Rochdale Borough Council.
Mr DePree has previously told of how, growing up 3,500 miles away in Michigan before his film career took him to Hollywood, he was enchanted by bedtime stories from his grandfather of an English castle the family had given up when descendants first moved to the US. However, he did not find out that the building actually existed until 2013.
The Agreement and Its Breakdown
He said he struck a deal with Rochdale Borough Council in 2017, giving him the chance to take ownership of the site for just £1 if he could secure planning permission and bring it back into use. Mr DePree relocated to the UK, set up the Hopwood Foundation and began restoring the hall with the help of volunteers and heritage experts. He applied for planning permission to transform the estate into an events and hospitality venue, which was granted in 2022. He says he invested around £750,000 of his own money into the restoration project and documented the journey in a book called Downton Shabby, detailing his efforts to revamp the 15th-century mansion associated with his family for 400 years.
But relations with the council broke down, with the authority claiming he had failed to meet the terms of the agreement - including producing a commercially viable business plan. In November 2024, the council chose not to renew the deal and the building was shut, leaving Mr DePree and his team locked out of the historic site.
Legal Battle and Public Statements
Speaking about the upcoming hearing, Mr DePree said: 'I'm looking forward to this coming out in public. I feel I have to stand up and fight for what's right.' He added: 'They attempted to pull the plug on the project and locked us out. That was a complete shock to the community. I couldn't believe a public body would behave in this way.' Mr DePree insists he met the conditions of the agreement and disputes the council's claims - including suggestions he failed to present a business plan. He said: 'They just went directly to the media and fed a story that we had not made enough progress and I hadn't presented a business plan, which is 100 per cent false.'
The council, meanwhile, says it has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds into the building and must protect public money, adding that it has a responsibility to explore alternative options. Mr DePree said he has submitted around 1,500 pages of evidence and believes the hearing will bring the full picture into the open.
Personal and Historical Significance
Currently based in Michigan but born and raised in Los Angeles, he said the project has taken its toll - but remains deeply personal. He said the restoration would be a tribute not just to the community, but to his late grandfather. Dating from 1426, Hopwood Hall had a rich history - with Guy Fawkes staying there as well as Lord Byron, who finished his celebrated poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage at the home. It is said to have had connections with Mr DePree's ancestors that date back 400 years to his 17th century relative John Hopwood.
Mr DePree added: 'It would be an incredible day to see Hopwood Hall restored, not only for myself after everything we've gone through, but also for my grandfather who has passed away.'
Council's Position and Future Plans
Rochdale Borough Council granted Mr DePree an exclusivity agreement, in which he could develop and eventually buy the building from them for a 'nominal sum' as long as his business plan was viable. But the local authority last year terminated their seven-year partnership, criticising the American's £13 million redevelopment for being too slow and 'unlikely to be able to secure future public or private funding'. Mr DePree's lawyers argue the council should honour the agreement to sell, claiming the only condition stipulated was that planning permission be secured. That was granted in 2022. The plans aimed to restore the magnificent banquet room – built in 1689 - to hold weddings with the hall's 25 bedrooms providing ample accommodation for guests. The historic oak parlour, the library and upper gallery were all earmarked for renovation so the home could open for public tours where visitors would enter via a gift shop and welcome centre. Mr DePree had also hoped to rebuild the hall's conservatory, lost in the 1950s, and construct a stage in the grounds for films, theatre productions and concerts. Workshops teaching traditional skills like leaded glass window making, wood carving and plaster moulding would continue too.
Rochdale council leader Neil Emmott said last November: 'Hopwood Hall is a local historic asset which means a great deal to the people of Middleton and indeed the wider borough. Something as important as this is about much more than one person, however well-intentioned they may be. Public assets are owned by our residents and we cannot allow them to transfer to a private individual without a great deal of care. Mr DePree was asked to meet a number of conditions when we entered into our agreement with him. We would be failing in our duty to protect our historic assets if we didn't hold Mr DePree to the terms of this agreement. We know that many local residents have put their heart and soul into Hopwood Hall's restoration as volunteers on the project. We're very clear that we will continue to involve those volunteers and the wider community in any future plans.'
Historical Background
The Hall and the Hopwood family parted ways in the early 20th century when its two male heirs – Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Gregge-Hopwood and his brother Captain Gerald Gregge-Hopwood - were both killed during the First World War. Their parents, tormented by grief, sold the property in 1922. It was bought by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation to make uniforms during the Second World War and later became a Catholic teacher training college. Rochdale Council purchased the hall in the 1990s.
Rochdale Council was approached for comment.
