The US actor at war with Rochdale council over his ‘ancestral home’

Hopwood DePree strolls up to the imposing doorway that serves as the grand entrance to what was once his ancestral home. For starters, he’s in work boots and has just walked through some fierce industrial fencing, the colour of which matches the grey autumnal skies near Rochdale. “Welcome to Hopwood Hall,” he beams, almost incongruously, given the Grade II-listed manor house is, basically, derelict. “Honestly, it fills me with so much emotion every time I’m here, thinking about this place which has been in my family for so many years.” Except, DePree can’t really do anything apart from gesticulate wildly. After years of work and hundreds of thousands of pounds invested to make Hopwood Hall safe and accessible for the community, during which time DePree had an agreement with Rochdale Council on an option to buy the building for a nominal fee – the Council ended their relationship last week.