Flights of fancy at mansion

Apr 18 2008 by Barry Ellams, Chester Chronicle

Flights of fancy at mansion

GUESTS at Friday’s VIP launch of Oddfellows were greeted by Alice in Wonderland, Gorillas, Kate Moss peeking through a Venetian mask, Hannibal Lecter, a moat, Bedouin tents and fairytale lights.

The £3.25m hotel, restaurant and private members lounge on Lower Bridge Street in Chester, opened the following day.

The former Navy Club building bought by the three directors of Lister Carter Associates – Welland Lister, Gary Carter and Ken Roscoe – has been converted into a flight of fancy that draws on film, fashion, culture, food and drink.

The 17th century, Grade II-listed former Georgian mansion has been restored and mischievously ‘tampered with’ to produce a paradoxical experience – furniture hanging from the ceiling, optical illusions, hidden art pieces and bespoke furniture.

Oddfellows, whose design plays on Lewis Carol’s Alice Through The Looking Glass, declares on its accompanying website, www.oddfellows.biz, that it is a wonder to behold.

The labyrinthine, four-floor building is open plan with private rooms. On the top floor the old servants quarters have been converted into four bespoke bedrooms including a master suite.

The basement wine vaults, manned by sommelier James Wiseman, will feed the second and third floor hub which offers a champagne bar, brasserie, dining rooms, tea room and private members lounge.

The private members lounge is described as “a dark velvety burrow” and is part of a multiple of themed rooms and spaces – Bedouin-style dining tents, moat area and walled garden.

Oddfellows has been designed for social interaction – corporate cliques can mingle with coffee-sipping shoppers while ‘exclusive’ and family dining is provided.

Director Isabel Grey said: “The best way to describe it is an open house members club with anyone areas and exclusive areas. There are opportunities to wrap people up in cotton wool, and for people to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.”

More than 130 private members have signed up, many of them businesswomen which proves its appeal to the corporate circuit, but staff aim to nurture a cocktail culture and dining set too.

Oddfellows will shortly be followed in Chester by upmarket nightclub Cruise and construction of hotel/restaurant complex Abode is well under way.