CALLS have been made to ‘bring back to life’ an unused historic £65m Grade II listed mansion house and estate in Basingstoke.

A community group is calling for Hackwood Park house and gardens to be opened up for the public, after sitting ‘unused and unloved’ for years.

As previously reported, the estate was put on the market by Christie’s International Real Estate in 2022.

It was reported to have a guide price of more than £65m - believed to be the most expensive estate ever to be sold publicly on the market.

READ MORE: Historic mansion house and estate worth more than £65m up for sale in Basingstoke

However, according to the new group - Friends of Hackwood Park - the estate did not sell and the house and garden are sitting empty and unused.

According to the group the house has not been lived in since it was last sold in 2003.

It said: “It sits empty, doing nothing, an example of a 21st-century ultra rich developer with so much money to play with that it can sit there mothballed indefinitely doing absolutely nothing. It is a shell and a shadow of its former self, frozen and unloved, waiting.

“What it needs is someone with the means and vision to set it free and bring it back to life.

"It has the potential to be a venue of all kinds of events, a working productive business, film set, luxury accommodation, stables, farming, fruit and vegetable production, charitable event venue and provide employment for hundreds of people.

"It would be a great place to work and one of the best things to happen to the area around Basingstoke.

“The town doesn’t know what it is missing, and it seems the current owners would rather keep it that way.”

SEE ALSO: The fascinating history of Hackwood House

The group said the house has been “maintained to perfection”. It includes a deer park, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, gardens, a long oak-lined driveway and is steeped in history with Winston Churchill and Jane Austen among those who visited.

It was bought by a mystery buyer in 2003 and, according to the Friends of Hackwood Park, was renovated to “the highest standard”.

The 260-acre grounds have been maintained and parts can be accessed by the public via a public footpath that runs through the estate.

The Friends of Hackwood Park said: “There is an eeriness to it. Signs tell you to stick to the paths and cameras are watching you.”

The group is hoping for the gardens to be opened to the public to raise money for charities and for summer events to be held in the grounds.

The 24-bedroom mansion with 20 bathrooms was built in 1683 and includes a gym, sauna, library, stables, spa, tennis courts, staff quarters, coach house, four estate cottages, parkland and ancient woodland.

For more information about Friends of Hackwood Park, visit its website here.