Deep in the Hereford countryside is a unique building, one that has survived against the odds, having been close to unsalvageable at the point it was saved.

The Gothic Summerhouse sits in a corner of the walled garden at Homme House in Much Marcle, an estate with continuous family links since the 1570s, though at several points through marriage rather than blood. Having moved back from London with his wife Sarah, Charlie Finnigan supports his parents Jocelyn and John, the current guardians of this historic house.

Charlie's step-grandfather, who had inherited the house jointly with his brother, left the Grade II* listed Homme House to his wife, who would be the last generation to live at Homme as a purely private home, though even today it is as much a private home as it is a popular destination for weddings.

"By the time my parents, Jocelyn and John, got involved in 2000, the place was in a very sorry state, with a leaking roof having caused all of the top floor ceilings to fall in," says Charlie. "They then started a programme of work to try and save the place, starting at the top of the house and working down." The first big job, the roof, was supported by a grant from English Heritage for the slate and lead flashings.

"They repeatedly discovered how much the place needed to generate an income to have a chance of saving it," says Charlie. A restoration project on this scale was not, he says, something his parents had experience of, though they had fully restored a cottage in the village that had been condemned.

"They investigated lots of different options for raising funds, and eventually decided that using the house for weddings was the route they wanted to take - it was quite an innovative thing to do when they first offered the house for weddings, and there weren't that many places doing it.

"We get a whole range of weddings, and we're not like a lot of other venues which run on a much more commercial basis. "None of the proceeds from the weddings go into our pockets - it is all used to fund the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the place. So we are enormously grateful to anyone who wants to get married here. Opening the house to guests also means that we get to meet lots of nice people and the house is enjoyed and shared, and through that, gets the TLC it deserves."

Among the jobs that have been made possible is the full restoration of the flying staircase.

Outside, Charlie reports, the estate is looking better than it has in living memory. "The walled garden is a great example - the first changes were made in 2011 and since then we've done a lot of work. When I was very small it was a fully working cottage garden. We started to establish a wild flower meadow as a holding pattern but the weeds soon took over and then in 2011 we started the process of restoring it. Today, the espaliered apple trees in the walled garden produce 300 bottles of juice every year." Contributing to the garden restoration is the annual "Big Walled Garden Weekend' project, which sees family and friends gather to work on replanting the space.

The wall itself, however, needed more professional help. "We had a quote for redoing the brick work around the edge of the garden, and that came in at £100,000, so our approach has been to employ a wonderful local expert in lime mortar, Neil Duggan, to do a small section of the wall each year."

And in the corner of the walled garden is The Summer House, undoubtedly one of the major attractions of Homme House as a wedding venue, and one that was perilously close to vanishing forever.

""After generations of under-investment, my step-grandfather and grandmother struggled with the upkeep of the estate, and The Summerhouse was in desperate need of restoration and TLC. "

In fact, the building was at the top of English Heritage's at risk register in Herefordshire.

The process of securing the funding and restoration of the building was a 10-year journey. It is evidence of the historical significance of the Summerhouse that through this extended period, English Heritage generously maintained their commitment to fund up to 50% of the restoration. And, matched by a grant from the Country Houses Foundation (now known as the Historic Houses Trust), the restoration became possible ... just in the nick of time. By 2011 it was in danger of catastrophic collapse.

With some features damaged beyond repair, the existence of photographs from the 19th and early 20th century proved invaluable to their reinstatement, and, happily, fragments of the lantern, parts of the chimney shaft and all the 19th century metal casements had been kept in storage.

A full architectural and archaeological assessment by Richard K Morriss in 2010 declared that The Summerhouse 'may be one of the most important buildings of its date and type in the region and is also of national significance'.

Though rumour had suggested the octagonal structure had been built as a pigeon house, Richard Morriss concluded, in part from the large fireplace in the ground floor room, that it was a room of fairly high status, with the first floor room of even higher status with a near complete arcade of Gothick windows. The status and comfort of the two rooms suggest that it was built as a garden building for the owners of the house, possibly used as a banqueting house or simply a space for 'peaceful bucolic contemplation'.

Whatever its original purpose, today The Summerhouse takes a starring role in wedding photographs and offers a secluded and romantic retreat for guests, the restoration effected by Ledbury-based Stainburn Taylor Architects, led by Ian Stainburn, and carried out by DA Cook (Builders) Limited of Winchcombe, with the support of various specialists. One of the conditions of the funding was that it would be available to be viewed, and people are welcome, when the country has emerged from lockdown, to make appointments to see it.

"We are incredibly grateful to the bodies who funded the restoration because it would have been beyond our means. I am really proud of everything my parents have done, but it couldn't have been done without some very generous help," says Charlie.

"Wedding guests tend to sit in the walled garden while the happy couple signs the register in the upper chamber, before having photographs taken with The Summerhouse as a backdrop. It's unique, a very special spot and people fall in love with it when they see it.

"Between May and September we offer it as an overnight stay, and guests can enjoy the walled garden as their own private garden. It tends to be very popular - it's almost a glamping style experience, and you have to go outside to get to your bathroom. Those who enjoy glamping and unusual spots love it here.

"We've done the interior in such a way that it's almost completely reversible. There's no technology, no plastic and old pieces of furniture, much as it would have been in the past - a probate document from 1686 lists the contents as one table and six chairs!"

It's been called many things in its time, including The Pigeon House and The Banqueting House. We call it The Summerhouse, but the building itself remains a real enigma."

Homme House

Much Marcle

Ledbury

Herefordshire

HR8 2LY

charlie@hommehouse.co.uk

01531 660 864

07764 346 725