Marble Hill House is a

Neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

villa, now

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

. It was built between 1724 and 1729 as the home of

Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk Henrietta Howard (born Henrietta Hobart; 168926 July 1767) was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain and the sister of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire. Biography Henrietta was one of three daughters of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th B ...

, who lived there until her death. The compact design soon became famous and furnished a standard model for the Georgian English

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

and for

plantation houses A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

in the American colonies.

Description

Marble Hill House was built in 1724–1729 by Henrietta Howard, the mistress of King George II, to the designs of the architect Roger Morris (1695–1749) in collaboration with

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery (29 January 16939 January 1749) was an English peer and courtier. He was the heir and eldest son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. H ...

, one of the "architect earls". Pembroke, then Lord Herbert, based the design of Marble Hill to a large degree on

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...

's 1553 ''

Villa Cornaro Villa Cornaro is a patrician villa in Piombino Dese, about 30 km northwest of Venice, Italy. It was designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1552 and is illustrated and described by him in Book Two of his 1570 masterwor ...

'' in Piombino Dese, Italy, and thus incorporated a cubic saloon on the first floor or ''

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

''. ''Villa Cornaro'' also served as a model for

in the American colonies, examples being

Drayton Hall Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation located on the Ashley River about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston, west of the Ashley in the Lowcountry. An e ...

(1738–1742) in Charleston, South Carolina, and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

's initial version of

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

(1768–1770). It was in other respects an adaptation of a more expansive design by

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural ...

. It is set in 66 acres (2.67 km²) of parkland known as ''Marble Hill Park''. The ''Great Room'' contains lavishly gilded decoration and five capricci paintings by

Giovanni Paolo Pannini Giovanni Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the '' vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Panini is best known for his vistas of ...

. Marble Hill House also contains a loaned collection of early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

furniture and paintings as well as the

Chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French ''wikt:chinoiserie#French, chinoiserie'', from ''wikt:chinois#French, chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of China, Chinese and other East Asia, East Asian artistic traditions, especial ...

collection of the Lazenby Bequest. It was located a few miles away from

Kendal House Kendal House was a historic property located near the River Thames in Isleworth, then to the west of London. It was constructed for the use of Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, who had been the long-standing mistress of George I. Aft ...

, another Palladian property built around the same time for a royal mistress,

Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, Duchess of Munster (25 December 166710 May 1743) was a longtime mistress to King George I of Great Britain. Early life She was born at Emden in the Duchy of Magdeburg. She was a daught ...

who had been the long-term lover of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria ( fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

. Both

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

and

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

were regular guests at the house during the lifetime of Henrietta Howard. In the late 18th century the house was rented by the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

(the future king, George IV) for his mistress,

Maria Fitzherbert Maria Anne Fitzherbert (''née'' Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was i ...

, so the two could continue to meet in private. KingsNymptonParkDevon

Shortly after its building the architecture of Marble Hill House became widely known from published engravings, and was widely admired for its compact plan and tightly controlled elevations. Its design was soon copied elsewhere, rarely in the 1730s and 1740s but more commonly thereafter, and provided a standard model for the English

s built throughout the

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

and further afield, for example ''New Place'',

King's Nympton King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Regis'') is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England in the heart of the rolling countryside between Exmoor and Dartmoor, some 4½ miles () S.S.W. of South Molton and N. of Chulmleigh. The ...

, Devon, built between 1746 and 1749 to the design of Francis Cartwright of

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and i ...

in Dorset. Capriccio com o Coliseu e o Arco de Constantino

An archaeological investigation found evidence of what has been described as a bowling alley next to the house in 2017. However, it is likely that game resembled

boules ''Boules'' () is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Croatian: boćanje and in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called in France, ...

as much as bowling and the "alley" (better described as a depression in the ground) does not resemble the modern concept of a bowling alley. The main evidence that the area was used for some sort of bowling rests on contemporary plans. The house is now owned by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, which acquired it in 1986 following the abolition of the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. Its extensive grounds are known as Marble Hill Park and provide many leisure facilities including rugby and hockey pitches, a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

pitch and nets,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

courts, and a children's play area. In 2015, English Heritage won a

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

grant to develop Marble Hill House and its park in order to improve its presentation and the associated leisure facilities. As part of this project

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

made a range of landscape investigations, including geophysical surveys,

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

and

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

mapping, analytical earthwork survey, coring and vegetation analysis to create a clear picture of the development of the Marble Hill landscape from the 17th century onwards. Restoration work on the house included the reinstatement of

colour schemes and renovation of the furnishings and pictures. The works took seven years to complete and cost £8M. The director of English Heritage, Kate Mavor, described the restored house as “one of the forgotten gems of Georgian London”.

In popular culture

Marble Hill House is used as a stand-in for a plantation house in the 1994 film ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, w ...

''.

Notes and references

Sources

* Bryant, Julius (1988). ''Chinoiserie: the Rosemary and Monty Lazenby bequest presented through the National Art-Collections Fund to Marble Hill House''. Marble Hill House (London:

) * Bryant, Julius (1993). ''London's country house collections'' (London: Scala Books in association with English Heritage) * Bryant, Julius (2002). ''Marble Hill'' (London: English Heritage)

External links

*
English Heritage: Marble Hill House information for visitors English Heritage: Teachers' resource kit for Marble Hill House
{{Authority control 1729 establishments in England Buildings and structures on the River Thames Country houses in London English Heritage sites in London Georgian architecture in London Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Grade I listed houses in London Grade I listed museum buildings Historic house museums in London History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames History of Middlesex Houses completed in 1729 Houses in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Middlesex Museums in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Museums on the River Thames Neoclassical architecture in London Palladian architecture in England Twickenham Villas in the United Kingdom

Description

In popular culture

See also

Notes and references

Sources

External links