If binging on the TV show Bridgerton has you imagining a more opulent lockdown lifestyle, take heed! This month, from January 20–22, the English auction house Dreweatts will be hosting an auction of the whimsical and wonderful contents of Aynhoe Park, a Palladian country house in Oxfordshire in its sale “Aynhoe Park: The Modern Grand Tour.” 

Since 2006, 17th-century Aynhoe Park has been the home and devoted restoration project of husband-and-wife designers James Perkins and Sophie Perkins. Over the past 15 years, the couple has patiently assembled a dazzling and unique set of furnishings while keeping a keen eye toward preserving the home’s architectural history and still embracing the vibrancy of 21st-century living.

With the restoration now complete and the Perkins moving on to new projects and the renovation of Parnham Park in Dorset, the kaleidoscopic contents of the home are being offered to the public in one of the first-ever virtual house sales. 

Aynhoe Park, 2021. Courtesy of Dreweatts.

Aynhoe Park “is furnished with a collection of iconic objects and curiosities from our travels across the globe. It has been my passion, as well as a family home,” said James Perkins.

A veritable lifesize wunderkabinett, the home is filled with art and objects from across continents and centuries, all playfully intermingled, with artworks, books, sculpture, furniture, taxidermy, contemporary design, and even curiosities such as a triceratops skull and an Orient Express trunk. 

“Aynhoe Park really is an Aladdin’s cave of beautifully chosen works, from the academic to the more eclectic and from the ancient to the contemporary,” said Will Richards, the deputy chairman of Dreweatts. “Appropriately titled ‘The Celebration of a Modern Grand Tour,’ it is the realization of a lifetime’s passion and a contemporary take on a tradition that would have been originally reserved for the upper echelons of society… however, this fascinating collection is available to all.” 

Aynhoe Park, 2021. Courtesy of Dreweatts.

Aynhoe Park, 2021. Courtesy of Dreweatts.

Aynhoe Park, 2021. Courtesy of Dreweatts.

Aynhoe Park Auction will take place as a Live Online Auction, Wednesday, January 20, and  Thursday, January 21 and as as Timed Online Auction which ends on Friday, January 22.