B2B infomation

Lindeth Howe was built as a summer holiday home for a wealthy mill owner in 1879 and was situated in a 28-acre estate commanding fine views over Lake Windermere.

The mill owner rented the house out to friends for holidays amongst them were the Potter family. At the turn of the century, the house was then bought by Bruce Canon Vernon Wentworth of Wentworth Castle, near Barnsley, a retired Captain in Her Majesty’s Grenadier Guards. From 1902 to 1913, Beatrix Potter wrote her famous children’s stories and for two of these stories, Timmy Tiptoes and Pigling Bland, she illustrated them whilst staying at Lindeth Howe.

We have copies of some correspondence from this period and have permission to use a copy of her handwriting when she inscribed Lindeth Howe. We also have some original photographic plates of pictures & prints of the house taken by her father, Rupert Potter, who was an amateur photographer.

In 1915, after the death of her father, Beatrix Potter bought Lindeth Howe for her mother, Helen Potter, to live in. Beatrix had fallen in love with the property during the times she had stayed and notified her mother when the sale was announced. At this time Beatrix lived in Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey.

In 1933 Mr & Mrs Doxford bought the house from Beatrix Potter after her mother died. Their two sons grew up in the house and up until his death in 2013, Mr Doxford Junior was still a regular guest at the hotel, staying in the room which was his nursery as a child. He kept many photographs of the house and shared his memories and childhood stories of the house with the staff and guests.

Mr Doxford senior was an engineer and he designed and made a system for opening and closing the high-level ventilation windows found on the ground and first floor. This system still works perfectly today.

Following the sale of the property in 1949, the purchaser converted the property into two houses and a flat. Lindeth Howe in the meantime was sold on to the Howarth family and remained in this ownership until July 1973 when the house was sold by executors of Richard Howarth to yet another development company partnership, Bruce Lane Development and Walker Park Securities. They held the property for a couple of years before selling it to a local family Builder and Joinery concern, Brian and Jillian Postlethwaite.

The Postlewaite family purchased the house and started a Bed and Breakfast business. During this period various plots of land were sold out of the estate and a few other private houses were built, all sharing the same driveway to the main property. In 1978 the Baxter family purchased one half of the property which operated as the Bed and Breakfast business and subsequently purchased the other half, Lindeth Brae in 1983, converting the property into one complete family home once again. Lindeth Howe thus became a small country house hotel with 15 bedrooms and private family accommodation for the owners.

In 1998 the Baxters retired and sold Lindeth Howe with the benefit of extensive planning permission to its present owner, Sir Norman K Stoller CBE KStJ DL and Stephen Broughton. Sir Norman Stoller is a retired businessman from Oldham, who had spent his business life developing and marketing an invention from his father. Much of his private life was spent in the Lake District and this resulted in the acquisition of a business in the area following his retirement.

In 1999 the hotel was enlarged, very much in keeping with the original architecture, to 32 bedrooms, a lovely restaurant and 3 spacious lounges.

Further refurbishments took place in 2009 when the hotel opened two deluxe suites aptly named ‘The Potter Room’ and ‘The Westmorland Suite’. Rumour has it, that The Potter Room is where Beatrix Potter favoured staying on her visits to Lindeth Howe way back when the Potters holidayed at Lindeth Howe. Helen Potter, Beatrix Potter’s Mother, stayed in the room when she lived in the house.

The Westmorland Suite is hidden away at the top of the house on the second floor. Both feature stunning interior design and the highest quality furnishings on top of spectacular views over the gardens towards Lake Windermere and the fells beyond.

The hotel boasts awards including a 4* Gold Award from enjoyengland.com.

Lindeth Howe was a finalist in the Small Hotel of the Year in the Cumbria Tourism Awards in 2018 and a finalist in the Wedding Venue of the Year in 2019.

In September 2021 the hotel was honoured to host HRH The Earl of Wessex & Forfar KG GCVO (Now titled The Duke of Edinburgh) who attended a dinner hosted by Sir Norman Stoller & Lady Stoller in celebration of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Champions' Challenge.

In 2023 we were thrilled to be awarded the Cumbria Tourism Wedding Venue of the Year and that same year we also won the 2023 ROSE award from Visit England, one of only 10 properties across the whole of Cumbria to win this award for Recognition Of Service Excellence!

Sample Group Lunch, Afternoon Tea & Dinner Menus for Non-Resident Groups: