IT IS a former care home with a troubled history – including a serious data breach.

But Westbury House in West Meon could soon be demolished and replaced with 10 dwellings.

The owner Dr Usha Naqvi has submitted a planning application to the South Downs National Park authority.

Snug Architects, formerly based in Winchester but now in Totton, has designed the new homes, alongside the plans to alter the landscape.

It is unclear when a decision will be made on whether to permit the plans.

Westbury House ceased to be a care home in 2016 when it was shut down by the Care Quality Commission.

Dr Naqvi stated that she tried to secure the building but 'urban explorers' have since posted videos online from inside the 300-year-old building, which has suffered severe structural damage at the hands of vandals.

Some of the clips showed people leafing through the files of former residents, which are strewn across the property.

The Chronicle understands the plans are supported by some residents and objected to by others.

No locals, councillors or organisations are yet to object publicly.

More History

The manor of Westbury passed through several hands on various occasions, and in the 18th century was inherited by Third Viscount Henry Gage.

The family kept the house in their possession, and later came to rent the mansion out.

By the 1850s/60s the house was occupied by Edward and Adelaide Sartoris, and his family. His uncle lived at the nearby Warnford Park.

From a book by Malcolm Warner- "Their (the Sartoris’) new residence was Westbury House, a stately Palladian mansion leased from Henry, 4th Viscount Gage, of Firle Place in Sussex. The approach to the house was along a tree-lined drive off the road between the villages of East Meon and West Meon. The drive looped into an oval on the north side of the house, and on the south side were pleasure grounds designed by the celebrated early 18th century landscape gardener Charles Bridgeman. Surrounding the house and gardens was a working estate with a farmyard, barns and stables, fields and timber plantations."

Charles Bridgeman was a notable landscape designer who helped pioneer the naturalistic landscape style. His more notable works include the National Trust property Stowe, Wimpole Hall, Kensington Gardens and Chiswick House.

In 1904, disaster struck when a massive fire broke out and destroyed the old house.

From The Times, November 24th 1904.

"In this disastrous fire which destroyed a Hampshire Mansion, it was through the strenuous efforts of the owner, Colonel Le Roy-Lewis, that his wife, five children and some 30 servants were all saved. A fire, which resulted in the almost total destruction of Westbury House, West Meon, near Petersfield, the residence of Colonel Le Roy-Lewis D.S.O, occurred early yesterday morning. Owing to the efforts of Colonel Le Roy-Lewis himself, no lives were lost by fire, but the housekeeper, an elderly woman named Jane Henley, who had been in the service of the family for many years, died on the roof from shock and fright before she could be rescued. The cook, whose name is Hall, jumped from the roof in her fright and broke her wrist. She was removed to Winchester Hospital. The escape of the occupants was most exciting. The French governess, who occupied a bedroom at the rear of the main part of the house, raised the alarm at about 3am. Her cries were heard by Colonel Le Roy-Lewis, who immediately did what he could to rouse the family. Rushing out of his bedroom he found the staircase burning and the corridors filled with smoke, and all means of escape cut off. His first impulse was to save his five children, and he ran through the flames to the children’s wing and found that that part of the house was safe. Getting out of a window, he scrambled along a narrow ledge to a stack pipe, down which he slid to the ground, a distance of about 40 ft. He rushed to the stables, and with some difficulty roused the stablemen, and with the aid of three of them tried to raise a heavy ladder to the French governess’ window, but it fell and broke. A messenger was despatched to Petersfield on a bicycle, some eight and a half miles distant, and the Petersfield Fire Brigade arrived about 6 o’clock, but they could do no more than play on the burning building and prevent the fire from spreading to the children’s wing, a new part of the house which had only been built some three years. The mansion itself is an old one, standing in a well-wooded park of 500 acres, and is in the Queen Anne style. It contained many fine pictures and some rich carving by Gibbons. Most of the rooms were wainscotted in oak, and there was a fine library. All these have been destroyed, only a few articles of furniture being saved. The family lost all their personal belongings.".

The mansion was subsequently rebuilt in the neo Queen Anne Style the following year. This is the present house that still stands.

It was converted to a school in 1924, and following that became a nursing home. This closed in 2016 following the home being rated inadequate by inspectors.

The house has since fallen into extreme disrepair, and now the owner looks to have it demolished.

See the planning application below.