In Conversation With

Andy Hill – owner of D’Oyly Carte

It had stood empty for over a decade. Every window was smashed and rooms stripped bare by vandals. But this once elegant, Victorian house, fired the imagination of Andy and Sheila Hill. So they bought it and set to work …

How did you discover the island?

I had agreed to do a charity kayak along the Thames and Sheila pointed out I should do some training, that’s when we saw the island. Sheila looked at this old house and over-grown garden and said ‘that is the most amazing property.

What happened next?

I discovered the house was built in 1890 by Richard D’Oyly Carte, producer of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas and owner of The Savoy Hotel. The island was then owned by a Chinese businessman who had agreed to sell it to a Russian but nothing had been signed so I matched his offer and did the deal. People have said it was meant to happen.

Were you worried about what you had taken on?

We asked ourselves ‘who on earth in their sixties would take on anything as nuts as that’. But my daughter and son-in-law are architects who specialise in restoring old properties and they gave us confidence

When were you able to move in?

About six months after we started work. You only do these things once in a lifetime so we sold our house in Richmond and got on with it and we got such good feed-back from the locals. They were delighted that someone was doing something with the propert

How did D’Oyly’s Coffee Bar on the tip of the island come about?

That area was in a horrible state. We called it The Ghetto, but my daughter worked her magic. Her brief was to create something beautiful that the community could enjoy. Previously the public had never been allowed on the island but we wanted them to enjoy the journey as well

Are there any changes planned for D’Oyly’s?.

We are building a kitchen extension so we can provide a better service when it re-opens, but next year we are hoping to create an indoor space to be open all year round.

What about the garden?

We’ve restored D’Oyly Carte’s pond where he kept a two foot crocodile as an exotic pet. It escaped into the river and vanished but a crocodile was carved into the wooden eaves which is still there to this day.

What are your long-term plans for the house?

My wife saw the house as a place for the family to have summer holidays, but it’s too big for just the two of us so we are planning wellbeing classes with yoga, pilates, and so on, which brings the community onto the island. Plus supper clubs down at D’Oyly’s on a Friday and Saturday with a menu and music.

How about concerts?

We hope to carry on with the summer concerts which started last year as part of the Weybridge Festival. It was just what the island was created for. I realise that we are just custodians of this property so need to get a balance between opening it up to the community who love it and using it as a family home.

Mark Dowdney