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Houghton Hall
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Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Those who most influenced the initial development of plans and construction at Houghton were:
The house has a rectangular main block which consists of a rustic basement at ground level, with a piano nobile, bedroom floor and attics above.
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Encyclopedia
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Those who most influenced the initial development of plans and construction at Houghton were:
The house has a rectangular main block which consists of a rustic basement at ground level, with a piano nobile, bedroom floor and attics above. There are also two lower flanking wings joined to the main block by colonnades.
The exterior is both grand and restrained, contrived of fine-grained, silver-white stone the Gibbs-designed domes punctuate each corner.
In line with the conventional taste preferences of that period, the interiors are much more colourful, exuberant and opulent than the exteriors.
History
This English country home was built, modified and maintained by the Cholmondeley family across a span of generations. The growth of Houghton's library illustrates this family history. For instance, Col. Robert Walpole checked out a book about the Archbishop of Bremen from the library of Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge in 1667 or 1668. The overdue library book was discovered at Houghton in the mid-1950s; and it was promptly returned -- 288 years later.
The house has remained largely untouched, having remained "unimproved" despite the Victorian passion for remodelling and redecorating. Houghton still belongs to the Marquess of Cholmondeley, and parts of the structure and grounds are opened to the public throughout the year.
Art
Houghton once contained part of Sir Robert Walpole's great picture collection, which his descendants sold to Catherine the Great of Russia to pay off some of the family debts. Included in the current collection of paintings is Thomas Gainsborough's oil painting of his own family -- (circa 1751-1752).
Walpole's collection of marble Roman busts was also noteworthy.
Published by University Press, 1882
Directions
Houghton Hall is in West Norfolk, just north of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. A brown tourist signpost on the left points out the road to the Hall at the village of Harpley.
See also
- Eventing, "Saburu Houghton International Horse Trials"
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