Doxford house..

Amazing building, and now under new ownership, as we stood looking on the new owner approached us! &quot;Lovely building isn't it?, we have just bought it!!!&quot; Both my wife and I must have had our best 'Whatever' faces on!! But it was true, just having structural work done to make it safe after much vandalism! The new owner Robert, a very charming chap, gave us a brief look inside the walls at the 1000sq ft conservatory(winter garden) that joins the gate to the house! It is not in the best state! Much work is about to take place and he has invited us back to take some internal shots! Watch this space!!<br />
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Doxford House is a derelict 18th century mansion in the Silksworth area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is a Grade II* listed building[1]<br />
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Formerly known as Silksworth House, it was constructed in 1775&ndash;1780 by William Johnson who on his death in 1792 bequeathed the property to his friend Hendry Hopper. In 1831 Priscilla Hopper then heiress to the estate married William Beckwith of Thurcroft. He was High Sheriff of Durham in 1857. The Beckwiths moved to Shropshire in about 1890 and the house was let out.<br />
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In 1902, Charles David Doxford of William Doxford &amp; Sons, brother of Theodore Doxford, took out a 99 year lease on the 24-acre (97,000 m2) estate. On his death in 1935, his daughter, Aline, bought out the lease. On her death in 1968, she bequeathed the house and estate to Sunderland Corporation who gave the house its present name and turned the gardens into Doxford Park.<br />
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In 1989 the house became a students&rsquo; hall of residence for Sunderland University and from about 2000 to 2006 was occupied by the Lazarus Foundation, a drug rehabilitation charity .[2] Plans to turn the house into apartments were proposed in 2008.[3]<br />
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