Parnham House

Parnham House
Parnham House in 2011
Type	Stately home
Built	1552 (original) 1810 (renovation)
Architect	John Nash
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Parnham House
Designated	12 June 1953
Reference no.	1221178
Location of Parnham House in Dorset

Parnham House is a sixteenth century Grade I listed house located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Beaminster in Dorset, England.Historic England describes the house as "exceptionally important". In April 2017, the house was badly damaged by fire.

An original house on the site was built in the 1400s, and was completely rebuilt in 1552 for Robert Strode and his wife Elizabeth Hody. It is one of Dorset's oldest stately homes, and the 16th century hall and kitchen wing still remain. The house belonged to the Strode family for over 200 years. During the English Civil War, Sir John Strode's widow Lady Ann Strode was killed whilst trying to protect the house from Roundheads under the authority of Thomas Fairfax. In 1810, the house was remodelled by John Nash. His renovations included winding staircases and stone mullioned windows. After his death during the 1915 Second Battle of Ypres, William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse was buried in the grounds of Parnham House, his family home. In the 1920s, the house was used as a country club, and it was used by the American army during the Second World War. After the War, the house was used as a country club and nursing home. The house was purchased by John Makepeace in 1976, and he used the house for his School for Craftsmanship in Wood. In 2001, Makepeace sold the house to an Austrian hedge fund manager. The house became a Grade I listed building on the National Heritage List for England in 1953. Its gardens were landscaped by Inigo Thomas, and were Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1986. In addition to the main house, the lodge, ice house, and kitchen garden walls are Grade II listed, and the front courtyard, south terrace walls and gazebos, and stable block are listed Grade II*. The house is used as the venue for the annual East Dorset Food Fair.