After Aynhoe: James Perkins' Modern Grand Tour at Parnham Park

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Ahead of his landmark auction at Dreweatts in May, artist and avid collector James Perkins speaks to Camilla Frances about becoming a modern-day Dr Dolittle and creating a modern 'Grand Tour' at Parnham Park, his treasure-filled estate on Dorset's Jurassic Coast.  

BY CAMILLA FRANCES | HAPPENINGS | 25 APRIL 2025

Parnham Park, James and Sophie Perkins' Dorset estate, will host a landmark auction with Dreweatts; Parnham Park: A Modern Grand Tour on the Jurassic Coast.

James Perkins is no stranger to the cut and thrust of the auction room: the thrill of a sale or the disappointment of letting something go, both all the more profound when the auction is your own. In 2021, James and his wife, Sophie, auctioned almost all the contents of their 400-year-old Palladian house, Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire, to global interest and attention, with Tatler Magazine deeming it "the sale of the century".

The house and its collection was somewhat legendary, after all. Artist, curator and music-industry veteran, James, combined his deep reverence for historic houses, restoration, oddities and curiosities when he bought Aynhoe Park in 2006, restoring the stately Georgian property (embellished by Sir John Soane in 1798) and transforming it into a modern pleasure palace with, “a touch of wonderland”. The house soon became synonymous with star-studded events, fashion campaigns, spectacular parties, and hedonistic excess, but Aynhoe’s fantastical interiors - filled with the spoils of James’ collecting and his own studio's creations - usually garnered the most attention. 

Four years on, James will be back in the auction room, watching a landmark sale unfold once more. After selling Aynhoe, the family moved to Dorset's Jurassic Coast, where they took on their most ambitious project: the fire-scarred Parnham Park.

With foundations that date back to the 1400s, and glorious grounds and ornamental gardens designed by Inigo Jones in the 17th century, Parnham Park - just six miles from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site - is one of Dorset's oldest and most important stately homes. Ravaged by a fire in 2017, the estate required significant and sensitive restoration. "I wanted to challenge myself after Aynhoe," James says, "and Parnham has done just that. It's very special, but a totally different architectural style to Aynhoe Park and that - along with its location near Dorset's famous Jurassic Coast - has influenced my collecting, and our plans for the house in the future."

Presented by Dreweatts, on 13 May 2025, James' third auction, Parnham Park: A Modern Grand Tour on the Jurassic Coast, will feature the same eclectic assortment of treasures as his previous two sales (both at Aynhoe), but this time his pieces span the Jurassic era through to the present day. "My collection is truly a cabinet of curiosities, it's my own Modern Grand Tour," James tells Cabana. "Grand Tours were always about storytelling, and that's what I've been trying to do with my collecting. When I collect ancient dinosaur skeletons, fossils, seeds, marble busts, taxidermy, it's not an academic exercise, it's because I want to live among these amazing pieces, and share them."

Highlight: One of James' favorite objects, lot 147; Collection of Seeds. Parnham Park: A Modern Grand Tour on the Jurassic Coast © Dreweatts.

Parnham Park has allowed James to live out the dreams he’s had since childhood, of living among historic relics, ancient treasures and nature’s own marvels, while bringing them all into the light like a modern-day Dr Dolittle. His ancient finds - which sit among Sir John Soane-designed furniture and his own studio's works of contemporary art and sculpture - allow the Perkins family to enjoy Jurassic museum-grade natural history in their own home. “We get to fully appreciate nature’s creations in their earliest forms - nature’s ability to create genuine works of art spanning millions of years,” James says.

"It really is incredible to live among these objects every day, and at night - enjoying a glass of wine while everything casts a shadow. Usually these kind of objects are hidden away behind glass, you visit them in museums and walk past them, but you never really experience them fully. I don’t want to hide these important pieces away from people. My dream is to have a living house museum where people can wander freely."

Asked how he first came to collecting, he laughs: “I just think I dream big and have grand ideas,” before adding: “As a 16-year-old, I went to the most amazing country house sale at Cheltenham Racecourse. I wanted to buy everything, but didn’t have any money. It was so frustrating. Years later I went to the Chatsworth sale, then Easton Neston, both were incredible. There’s something very special about a country house sale, you're really going into the depths of someone’s creative life and mind.”

He now hopes that his own country house sale - the proceeds of which will fund the ongoing restoration of Parnham and plans for its public-facing future - will inspire current and future collectors. All lots can be viewed at Parnham, where the restaurant, set within the walled garden, will even serve a "grand tour" menu of small plates.

"I do think of our house as a domesticated natural history museum," James adds. "That’s what we’re doing here, we’re opening it all up. Come and have lunch, wander around, see the collection. You'll see a place that will never look the same again. It conjures the same excitement I used to feel going around country houses myself. You can imagine Dr Dolittle or a young David Attenborough in their element here."

Author and consummate collector Wolfgang Grulke, an expert in prehistoric artefacts, said the Parnham Park collection, "exemplifies an insatiably unique style that lies at the intersection of the classical and bizarre, blending the natural world with humanity's finest creations". The auction presents a selection of "truly important and fascinating objects", he said, which will inspire future generations of passionate collectors.

"In the future, Parnham Park could very well be seen as a jewel in the already rich tapestry of Dorset's historical and prehistoric heritage," he added.

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Parnham Park: A Modern Grand Tour on the Jurassic Coast

Tuesday 13 May 2025 | 10:30am BST 

Viewing at Parnham Park, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3LZ

Auction at Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE