Hopwood DePree

Hopwood DePree (born February 1970) is an American-British writer, actor, director and producer. He is best known for his renovation efforts of Hopwood Hall in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England. DePree's father was a politician (Republican), political advisor and the founder of a local insurance company. It is through his mother that he has Hopwood ancestry and was given the first name of Hopwood. DePree’s branch of the Hopwood family settled in the US in the 1700s, from England. The Hopwood surname changed to a first or middle name when Alcinda Hopwood married Newton Black in the late 19th century, and the male descendants were given the first or middle name of Hopwood. Growing up, DePree did not like his unusual first name and chose to use the name Tod before reverting to his birth name. His first acting, writing and directing credits are as Tod DePree. DePree moved to Los Angeles where he attended the University of Southern California, before becoming an actor, writer, director and producer.

DePree was born in the United States. In 2025, in a BBC article, he claimed to have obtained a British citizenship. The house, now surrounded by a training college of the same name, is largely made up of the 17th and 18th century components but incorporates parts of an early 16th century open-hall timber-framed structure and various 19th and 20th century additions and alterations. The first iteration of the hall is thought to have been in the 12th century, possibly by Normans in the period after the Norman Conquest.

DePree discovered the hall while researching his family tree on the internet. He then contacted the local Council, Rochdale Borough Council (RBC), the current owners of the hall, to find out more about it, before visiting it in 2014, where he saw it was in a dilapidated state, close to collapse. and by 2025 that total had increased to £750,000. By 2022, one wing was stabilised to prevent its collapse and a new slate roof was added, but there were still major structural issues in the interior, such as missing sections of ceilings or floors. DePree has been supported in his renovation work by volunteers, some of whom have found the work to help with their well-being and mental health.

At the end of October 2024, RBC opted not to renew their agreement with DePree, after seven years and four renewals because, they asserted, the conditions of the agreement had yet to be met. RBC council leader, Neil Emmott, commenting on the decision said, "Public assets are owned by our residents and we cannot allow them to transfer to a private individual without a great deal of care". The two-day High Court trial is scheduled for 29-30 September 2026.

Other Accomplishments In 1999, he co-founded the Waterfront Film Festival, held in the beach resort area of West Michigan.

He founded Tictock Studios in 2006. In 2009, Tictock Studios developed a training program, targeted at below-the-line workers, to get new crew members ready for work in Michigan.

In 2008, DePree was appointed by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm to the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council to represent broad areas of film and motion picture making, production of television programs, and commercials, and related industries in Michigan.

He was a Trustee of UK's Heritage Trust Network for six years, from 2018 to 2024.

In 2019, he created a multimedia stand-up comedy show called The Yank is a Manc! My Ancestors and Me, which he toured in Brighton, Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

His book, Downton Shabby: One American's Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family's English Castle, is a memoir about his restoration work on the English estate, published by Morrow in 2022.

Filmography