The Battle of Downton Shabby: Man who swapped LA for Rochdale gets into row with council

By the time it was visited by Guy Fawkes in 1605, when he was raising funds for the Gunpowder Plot, Hopwood Hall was already nearly 200 years old.

For centuries the vast manor on the edge of Middleton stood at the center of local life; home to landed gentry, wartime industry and even, for a spell, legendary rock bands.

Now the Grade II listed building is once again at the heart of controversy, locked behind its gates and caught in a bitter legal battle between Rochdale Borough Council and the man brought in to save it.

Hollywood filmmaker, Hopwood DePree, 56, says he has been locked out of the 600-year-old mansion, nicknamed Downton Shabby because of its state of disrepair.

He has put years of work into restoring the property, but the council pulled the plug, locking him out.

A two-day trial has now been set for September 29 and 30, where judges will decide the future of the Grade II-listed Hopwood Hall – and whether Hopwood met the terms of an agreement with Rochdale Borough Council.

He said: ‘I’m looking forward to this coming out in public. I feel I have to stand up and fight for what’s right.’

He first discovered the long-lost family home in 2013 while researching his ancestry – having grown up hearing stories about a mysterious ‘Hopwood Castle’.

He travelled to the UK in 2013 to see it for himself and found the once-grand mansion in a derelict state, with broken windows, collapsing ceilings and water running down the walls.

He struck a deal with the council in 2017,giving him the chance to take ownership of the site for just £1 if he could secure planning permission and bring it back into use.

After moving to the UK, he set up the Hopwood Foundation and began restoring the hall with the help of volunteers and heritage experts.

Planning permission to transform it into an events and hospitality venue was granted in 2022.

He says he invested around £750,000 of his own money into the restoration project – later documenting the journey in a book about the efforts.

But relations with the council broke down, with the authority claiming he had failed to meet the terms of the agreement – including producing a commercially viable business plan.

In November 2024, the council chose not to renew the deal and the building was shut, leaving Hopwood and his team locked out of the historic site.

He said: ‘They attempted to pull the plug on the project and locked us out. That was a complete shock to the community.

‘I couldn’t believe a public body would behave in this way.’

Hopwoodinsists he met the conditions of the agreement and disputes the council’s claims – including suggestions he failed to present a business plan.

He said: ‘They just went directly to the media and fed a story that we had not made enough progress and I hadn’t presented a business plan, which is 100 per cent false.’

The council, meanwhile, says it has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds into the building and must protect public money, adding that it has a responsibility to explore alternative options.

The dispute is now set to be decided in court, with both sides preparing to argue their case.

Hopwood said he has submitted around 1,500 pages of evidence and believes the hearing will bring the full picture into the open.

Currently based in Michigan but born and raised in Los Angeles, he said the project has taken its toll – but remains deeply personal.

He said the restoration would be a tribute not just to the community, but to his late grandfather.

He added: ‘It would be an incredible day to see Hopwood Hall restored, not only for myself after everything we’ve gone through, but also for my grandfather who has passed away.’

Rochdale Council was approached for comment.