Luton Hoo

Luton Hoo is a country house in Bedfordshire, England, on the edge of the large town of Luton. The unusual name "Hoo" is a saxon word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly found in East Anglia. Luton Hoo is not mentioned in the Domesday book, but a family called de Hoo occupied a manor house on the site in the 13th century. Successive houses on the site seem to have changed hands several times until in 1762 the then owner, Francis Hearne (MP for Bedford), sold the estate for £94,700 to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Following an unhappy period as Prime Minister from 1762 to 1763, Bute decided to concentrate his energies on his Bedfordshire estate at Luton Hoo.