Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive members club in Oxfordshire, has been granted planning permission to build 20 single bedroom huts as it nears capacity for overnight stays.
Opened in 2015 and spread across 100 acres in Oxfordshire, the member’s club occupies a series of renovated outbuildings, including a dilapidated watermill that now houses a country pub – very much influenced by the upstate New York cabin culture.
The country outpost of the hugely successful members club has been given the green light to transform the site of a former camping field and football pitch into new bedrooms, adding to the site’s collection of cabins, farm buildings, gym, restaurants and walled garden cottages.
An accompanying statement says that Soho Farmhouse has near 100% occupancy for overnight stays and a healthy waiting list for membership to its gym, pool, spa and wider facilities. Only members can stay in the club’s bedrooms and cabins, with rates starting at £295 per night.
A plan to enlarge the club’s wellness facilities has also been submitted, which would see an existing natural millpond and infrared sauna pods installed alongside four new hot tubs in and around the landscape.
Located between the gym and spa is a small island where members and guests currently have access to a sauna, steam room, two hot tubs, an ice house and outdoor showers.
The statement also quoted: “the investment by Soho House and Co. of over £100m to date has directly created over 400 jobs within West Oxfordshire and many hundreds more through the local supply chain for goods and services”.
The proposed improvements to the wellness facilities will create an additional 16 full-time jobs.
Soho Farmhouse is part of a global collection of 30 Soho Houses – which describes itself as “a place for our diverse membership to connect, grow, have fun, and make an impact”.
The first Soho House was opened in London’s Greek Street in 1995 when founder Nick Jones was offered the space above his restaurant, Cafe Boheme.
Earlier in the year, Soho House renamed its parent company to Membership Collective Group (MCG) and launched an Initial Public Offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The company offered 30,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, giving it a market valuation of about $2.6 billion.
