Wylam House is a remarkable mid 19th-century Italianate villa perched above Torbay on the English Riviera, commanding breathtaking sea views across the Bay. Built circa 1861, the house has been carefully restored and is now, for the first time, available to welcome guests and creative professionals through its doors.
With its grand architecture, sea-washed light and richly layered history — from Napoleonic-era Torquay to Agatha Christie herself — Wylam House offers an atmosphere that is genuinely difficult to replicate.
We are available for location hire, photoshoots and film shoots, as well as short break stays in our beautifully appointed en-suite bedrooms.
"Torquay is a pretty place… a mixture of Hastings and Tunbridge Wells and little bits of the hills about Naples." — Charles Dickens, 1862
During the Napoleonic Wars, when travel to Europe was impossible, Torquay became a substitute Grand Tour destination for England's affluent classes. Britain's elite reshaped the Bay in the image of Italy and France — and it was the Italianate style, fashionable between 1840 and 1885, that came to define the town. Ruskin called Torquay "the Italy of England."
Wylam House was built in 1862 on a lease from Sir Lawrence Palk. Its first distinguished resident was the Right Honourable Lord William Henry Hugh Cholmondeley, Marquis of Cholmondeley, who named it Malpas Lodge.
In 1894 the house was purchased by Frederick P Theophilus Struben — one of the pioneering prospectors of the Central Rand and West Rand goldfields of South Africa — who renamed it Kya Lami, the Zulu word for "My Home." During this period the young Agatha Christie was a regular visitor; her father Frederick Miller had become close friends with the Struben family.
In 1917 the property was acquired by Sir James Knott, 1st Baronet — Tory MP for Sunderland — who named it Wylam House after his home in Northumberland, the name it carries to this day.
Wylam House is available for location hire, photoshoots and film shoots. The house offers a wealth of period interiors, dramatic sea views and the serene grandeur of its Italianate architecture — all within easy reach of the South Devon coast.
Whether you require the sweeping formal rooms, the grand four-poster bedrooms, the staircase and landings, or the exterior facade above Torbay, the house adapts beautifully to a wide range of creative briefs.
Production inquiries and visiting arrangements are made by appointment. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Wylam House offers a rare and intimate overnight experience — a chance to sleep within the walls of a genuinely historic Italianate masterpiece, with views across Torbay and its towns.
Various beautifully appointed en-suite bedrooms are available for overnight guests, including grand four-poster rooms. There is limited availability throughout the year.
For the September festival week we have B&B en-suite rooms available, with incredible views over Torbay and its towns.
This year we are hosting the Agatha Christie Festival Garden Party event on Sunday 14th September — a fitting occasion given the young Agatha Christie's family connections to this house in the 1890s, when her father Frederick Miller was close friends with the Struben family who lived here.
B&B en-suite rooms are available for the September festival week. Availability is limited — please enquire early to avoid disappointment.
Wylam is available for location hire, photoshoots, film shoots, and short break stays. Please get in touch to discuss availability, visiting arrangements, or to request a production information pack.
