Hylands House is a Grade II* listed neo-classical house in 574 acres of landscaped parkland at Writtle, on the western edge of Chelmsford, owned and run by Chelmsford City Council. Its principal rooms have been restored, among them the Banqueting Room with a gilded coffered ceiling and red silk walls, the Drawing Room with a chandelier, the Terrace Room and the Library. In the grounds lie formal gardens with clipped topiary, a Victorian Pleasure Gardens wisteria pergola and a woodland Ceremony Garden with an oak structure.
Civil ceremonies are licensed in the Banqueting Room and the Drawing Room, each taking 100 guests, and the Grand Pavilion, 25 by 18 metres, takes 300. Every package gives one wedding the house and the pavilion together. The estate is dry hire with no kitchen of its own, so couples pick a caterer from an accredited list and bring their own drinks without corkage. There are no guest bedrooms, only three wedding suites, Wisteria, Rose and Repton, for getting ready, so guests stay in Chelmsford and Writtle. London is under an hour by train and London Stansted about 40 minutes by car.