Dunwyck Hall
Dunwyck Hall was built in 1926 with the scale, craftsmanship and architectural ambition of an English country house. Nearly a century later, much of that character remains intact, from its stone exterior and original casement windows to its seven fireplaces, timbered interiors and rooms designed for gathering.
The house is substantial, but it never feels impersonal. Its principal rooms unfold one into another, each with a distinct purpose and atmosphere, while quieter spaces offer places to read, retreat or enjoy the house at a slower pace.
Today, Dunwyck Hall is both a historic home and a place to be lived in. Guests have the rare opportunity to experience the house not as visitors passing through, but as temporary custodians of a place with history, individuality and a strong sense of home.
The principal reception rooms are available for intimate executive gatherings, board meetings, private dinners, and client hospitality. The emphasis is on privacy, architectural distinction, and intimate conversation rather than large events. Dunwyck Hall is particularly well suited to organizations wishing to entertain valued clients in an environment unavailable through conventional venues.
Guests occupy a private wing consisting of three king bedrooms, each with its own en-suite bathroom. A dedicated, private front entrance and total separation from the owners’ private quarters provide privacy while preserving the character of a lived-in country house. Weekly reservations encourage guests to settle in and experience the house rather than simply pass through it.
Guests have everything they need for coffee, drinks, and light fare conveniently available within the guest quarters.
Built in 1926 · Historic stone country house · Original architectural details · Three en-suite bedrooms · Multiple reception rooms
Entering Dunwyck
The character of the house begins at the front door
Arrival at Dunwyck Hall is through a deeply recessed stone entrance, where heavy masonry, an arched doorway and the original scale of the house immediately set the tone for what lies beyond.
Inside, the entrance hall opens beneath the main staircase, with dark wood, ironwork and terracotta floors set against the stone walls. Rather than a formal foyer meant simply to be passed through, it feels like a room in its own right. Paintings, family photographs, old furnishings, and collected objects give the space the layered character of a home that has been lived in for generations. Like the living halls of English country houses, the entrance functions as part of the life of the house rather than only a passage through it. Its staircase, stonework and glimpses into adjoining rooms make arrival itself part of the architecture.
From here, the house begins to reveal itself. The Great Hall and its enormous inglenook fireplace can be seen through one doorway and the library through another, while the staircase rises toward the bedrooms and the Minstrels’ Gallery above.
It is an entrance that does exactly what a country-house entrance should: it leaves you curious about what comes next.
Stone Entrance · Terracotta Floors · Main Staircase · Guest Powder Room · Direct access to the principal rooms
The Great Hall
The architectural heart of Dunwyck Hall
The Great Hall is the defining room of the house, rising beneath a dramatic, cathedral height Timber-Framed Roof to the Minstrels’ Gallery above. At its far end, an immense two-story granite inglenook fireplace anchors the room, while tall banks of original steel casement windows bring the surrounding landscape almost into the house. The Great Hall reflects the early twentieth-century revival of the medieval hall at the social center of the country house, not just a ceremonial room, but where family and guests gathered around the fire.
The scale is impressive, but the room is not merely for show. Sofas and chairs gather around the fire, making this a place for cocktails, conversation and long evenings at home. Above, the Minstrels’ Gallery forms an extraordinary second level within the same space, giving the room the unmistakable character of an English country house.
Nearly a century after Dunwyck Hall was built, the Great Hall remains what its architect intended it to be: the center of life in the house.
Timber-Framed Roof · Two-story Inglenook Fireplace · Original Steel Casement Windows · Minstrels’ Gallery
The Library
Books, firelight and one of the quieter corners of the house
The Library is one of Dunwyck Hall’s most intimate reception rooms, lined with bookshelves and crossed overhead by substantial dark timber beams.
At one end stands its working Tudor fireplace; at the other, shelves rise nearly from floor to ceiling. Between them, deep sofas, reading chairs and a tall original casement window make this a room intended to be occupied rather than admired.
The Library is particularly atmospheric toward the end of the day, when the scale of the room, the books and the fireplace create a marked contrast to the soaring Great Hall next door. It is a natural place for reading, conversation or a quiet evening after returning from the equestrian center. Guests are encouraged to take a book to read anywhere in the house during their stay.
Tudor Fireplace · Book-Filled Shelves · Original Casement Window · Exposed Beams
The Snug
The smallest of Dunwyck Hall's principal reception rooms — and perhaps the easiest to settle into.
The English idea of a snug is wonderfully simple: a small, comfortable room intended as a retreat from the larger rooms of the house. At Dunwyck Hall, the snug serves much the same purpose, tucked in between the Great Hall and the Library.
Its more intimate scale makes it a natural place for morning coffee, an afternoon book or a quiet drink at the end of the day. It’s also an excellent choice as a place to set up shop and work remotely, if needed. Two sets of French doors discreetly close the Snug off from the Great Hall and Library for quiet concentration or private phone calls. While the Great Hall provides the architectural drama of the house, the Snug offers something deliberately different — privacy, warmth and the feeling of having found one's own corner of the house.
The Dining Room
A proper dining room at the center of the house
Dunwyck Hall retains something increasingly uncommon in contemporary homes: a dedicated dining room designed as one of the principal rooms of the house.
The long dining table sits beneath exposed ceiling beams and a traditional chandelier, surrounded by windows and doors that bring abundant daylight into the room. Van Akin placed the Dining Room to orient west during the winter solstice: an example of how Dunwyck Hall was designed around the rhythms of the day. Along one wall, an extensive collection of blue-and-white china fills the open dresser, reinforcing the room's distinctly English character.
For guests, this is a room for lingering dinners rather than hurried meals — equally suited to an informal supper among six friends or a beautifully laid table for a more formal evening. An adjoining, well-stocked wet bar encourages entertaining and merriment. A doorway and curved staircase lead to the wine cellar below.
Guests are welcome to have meals catered to the house or to bring in prepared food to enjoy in the dining room. For those wishing to arrange catered dinners or other meals during their stay, we are happy to recommend local caterers.
Dining for 10 · Exposed Beams · Adjoining Wet Bar · Wine Cellar Entrance
The Wine Cellar
A hidden gathering place with a story underfoot
Tucked away in the lower level of Dunwyck Hall, a curved staircase leads below to the Wine Cellar — one of the house’s more unexpected rooms. Don’t forget to duck as you make your way down! A brick arch frames a bar and sink that was repurposed from a vintage pump organ, while a round table and four leather club chairs make it an intimate place to open a bottle, play cards or linger after dinner. Play darts or board games, too, if you like. There is even a rolling smart TV so you don’t have to miss the game while you hang out below.
Overhead, exposed pipes and the dark industrial ceiling preserve the cellar character rather than trying to disguise it. A wine storage cage framed by brick further adds to the wine cave vibe. Underfoot is the room’s most unusual detail: an illuminated drain grate set into the floor that is as close to a dungeon as we’ll ever have.
Part wine room, part hideaway, it is a wonderfully informal counterpoint to the grander rooms upstairs.
Wet Bar · Seating for Ten · Illuminated Floor Detail · Lower-Level Retreat
The Morning Room
Located just off the upstairs landing and connected to the bedrooms, the Morning Room provides guests a comfortable place to enjoy morning coffee or tea, a light meal, or a glass of wine and a drink with snacks at the end of the day. The room includes a food fridge, ice maker, stocked wine fridge, full bar, coffee and tea makers, microwave, sink, dishes, and table. French doors open onto a Juliet balcony overlooking Dunwyck Hall’s heavily forested grounds. It is a convenient and inviting space to gather, relax, or simply begin the day at your own pace.
The Minstrels’ Gallery
A room above a room
Reached from the upper guest wing floor, the Minstrels’ Gallery overlooks the Great Hall from beneath the great timber roof and functions as a sort of living room for the bedrooms and the Morning Room.
Here the construction of the house becomes part of the room itself. Heavy exposed timbers march the length of the ceiling, framing a long, intimate sitting area suspended above the much larger space below. From the balustrade, guests look directly down and across the Great Hall toward its monumental stone chimney breast. A defining feature of many medieval and Tudor great halls, a minstrels’ gallery provided a place for musicians above the principal room during dinners, dances and gatherings, allowing music to be heard without the musicians occupying the hall itself. Dunwyck’s Minstrels’ Gallery revives that centuries-old architectural tradition.
Furnished with sofas and deep chairs, it has become one of Dunwyck Hall’s most appealing places to retreat — secluded from the principal rooms below, yet still connected to the life of the house.
Great Hall Overlook · Exposed Roof Structure · Upper-level Sitting Room