NEW life is to be breathed into a ?tired? West Devon estate, following a £3-million deal agreed by entrepreneur Olga Polizzi.

Endsleigh House near Milton Abbot, built as a country retreat in the early 1800s by the sixth Duke of Bedford, is soon to be transformed into an exclusive hotel, following the signing of the deal.

Ms Polizzi, the daughter of Lord Forte, already runs a chain of high class hotels with her brother, Rocco Forte, including the Tresanton Hotel in St Mawes, Cornwall.

Endsleigh will be run by Ms Polizzi?s daughter, Alex, who said she was looking forward to the transformation of the historic house.

She said: ?I am incredibly excited about it, it?s such a wonderful project.

?It?s got huge potential and I think the area will really benefit as well. We will be open to non-residents as well, which I think will be nice for people in the area ? we are planning to make it a really fantastic, small hotel.?

Alex said Endsleigh would be revamped to cater for the luxury end of the market and would be run on similar lines to the Tresanton.

She hoped the 15-room hotel would be open for business within the year, with the main refurbishment taking eight or nine months to complete, including complete re-plumbing and re-wiring.

Alex said her mother had been in negotiations to buy Endsleigh for more than eight months. She said the building received a grant from English Heritage for renovations several years ago. Under the terms of the new deal, this money will be paid back.

?It?s been quite painful getting to this stage,? said Alex. ?There was the question of the English Heritage money and it was quite a complicated deal to do, but now we have done it, we can?t wait to get started.

?It?s very tired, it hasn?t had any real money spent on it apart from that from English Heritage, so it?s got to the point of no return now,? said Alex.

The refurbishment of the hotel is likely to take eight or nine months to complete. Once open, it will provide a boost for local food suppliers and those seeking jobs.

?We are very keen to employ local people,? said Alex.

Endsleigh House was built by the great Regency architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville ? its gardens were designed by Humphry Repton.

The house and many of the buildings on the 100-acre estate are Grade I Listed. They include a greenhouse, stable block, brewhouse, engine house and the Shell House, a summerhouse overlooking the River Tamar, which is encrusted with shells. Any restoration work will have to adhere to guidelines laid down by historic buildings watchdog English Heritage.

Endsleigh was put on the market in September last year. The National Trust was originally approached with a view to buying it, but the directors of the charity said it was not in a position to purchase the estate.