House
Cherry Hill AN ICON REBORN
Wentworth Estate is an exclusive residential area in Virginia Water, in the English county of Surrey. Apart from their proximity to London, its private houses benefit from being located inside the enchanting park of the Wentworth Club, one of the UK’s most prestigious private golf clubs. Here one can find some of the country’s most extraordinary residences, and Cherry Hill stands out amongst such company on account of its style and history.
The house was designed by British architect Oliver Hill and completed in 1935. Its owner was Katherine Hannah Newton, the heiress of Newton Chambers, one of England’s greatest companies at that time. The property was designed in accordance with the principles of modernist architecture which, since it was fairly unusual as a style in that area, put the building under the spotlight from the beginning.
Various owners succeeded to the property in turn but its fame was assured in 1958 when it was bought by the then US ambassador to Britain, John Hay Whitney, a member of one of America’s wealthiest families. The property was given the name of Cherry Hill from the Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado, where Whitney was wont to play golf with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
During this time the house reached the height of its glory and hosted some of the most illustrious members of the British aristocracy and establishment. It housed the superb Whitney art collection, one of the greatest private art collections of all time.
Cherry Hill belonged to John Hay Whitney until his death in 1982. It then fell into decline until the year 2000, when it was purchased by the developers Tejit and Jess Bath. The two brothers carried out complex expansion and renovation work on the building, resulting in is current size of 15,000 square feet and its renewed glory.
As a consequence of its architectural and historical significance, Cherry Hill was given Grade II listed status by English Heritage in 1986.
Our thanks to Tejit and Jess Bath for their help in producing this article.
Virginia Water, October 2018