The stages of Beaverbrook will be “gradually unveiled” in three phases in the Surrey countryside this year, with The Garden House, an 11-room cottage-style element designed by Nicola Harding, having just opened as the first part of the hotel.

The House – which will consist of 18 rooms in the main house designed by Susie Atkinson – will follow in the spring, with that element also set to include a restaurant and private cinema.

The final stage will be The Coach House Spa designed by glass architect and artist Brian Clarke, along with six Glass House Cottages.

There are also plans for a golf course designed by Tom Watson on the 400-acre estate, a Sharky & George kids’ club and Garden House Cookery School.

Justin Pinchbeck, who formerly headed up The Berkeley in London and Lime Wood in the New Forest, is running the Beaverbrook project as chief operating officer.

“The Beaverbrook estate is like none other I’ve come across,” said Pinchbeck. “We have an unrivalled opportunity to make sure our guests are given the best and most rounded experience possible.”

A good friend of Winston Churchill, the Canadian publishing maverick was a millionaire by the time he was 30.

His influential time in the UK included roles as minister of information and minister of war production, as well as owning the Express newspapers.