National property maintenance specialist, Novus Property Solutions, is in the midst of a programme of exterior redecoration works for a stunning baroque mansion in York.
Beningbrough Hall, an 18th century Italian-style baroque house and landscaped gardens, is owned and managed by the National Trust in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. The hall’s architectural grandeur is the perfect setting for the many 18th century portraits in the collection.
The National Trust is committed to preserving historic monuments and properties like Beningbrough Hall for future generations to enjoy. As part of its ongoing maintenance programme, the Trust approached Novus to carry out a series of repairs and redecoration works to the exterior of Beningbrough Hall this summer.
The extensive project will be carried out by operatives from Novus’ York office over the next 12 months. So far this year, the team has completed pre-decoration repairs to the exterior woodwork and metalwork on both the main hall and several small cottages within the grounds.
Paints from Dulux’s exterior range were specified to provide the historic hall with the ultimate protection from the elements for years to come. The colour specification was carried out in consultation with the National Trust and involved specially mixing colours to match the old lead paint used at Beningbrough Hall as closely as possible to ensure that the refreshed paintwork remained in keeping with the building’s heritage.
The hall is open to the public every day during the summer, meaning that Novus had to liaise closely with staff to limit disruption and ensure that the visitor experience was not adversely affected by the vital works.
Access was one of the main challenges faced by operatives, especially as the hall remained open throughout the duration of the project. A full scaffolding system would have been too disruptive so the team utilised a cherry picker to access the difficult to reach areas. This had to be moved to different areas of the site regularly throughout the course of the project so Novus worked with staff to ensure this process ran smoothly each time.
Nick Haigh, Novus’ operations manager in York commented: “Beningbrough Hall has many beautiful but delicate features including 18th century sash windows with original glass, which would have been costly to fix if damaged. The team all showed great care and attention to detail to ensure that we were able to refresh and preserve this stunning building.”
For more information about Novus Property Solutions please visit https://www.novussolutions.co.uk/sectors/listed-and-historic
