Winfield House
Encyclopedia
Winfield House is a mansion set in 12 acres (49,000 m²) of grounds in Regent's Park
, London
, England
- the largest private garden in or close to central London
after that of Buckingham Palace
. Since 1955, it has been the official ambassadorial residence
of the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
.
's development scheme. Later the Georgian villa was known as St Dunstan's, because of the distinctive church clock that hung in front of it. Occupants of the villa included the Marquesses of Hertford
, newspaper proprietor Lord Rothermere, and the American financier Otto H. Kahn. (Kahn lent it during World War I
to a new charity for blinded servicemen, from which St Dunstan's
takes its name.) The villa was damaged by fire in the 1930s and was subsequently purchased by the American heiress Barbara Hutton
, who demolished it.
, head of St Dunstan's
, approached her, explaining that the name of her house and his organisation (still with an office in Regent's Park) caused confusion, and asking that she give up the historical name. She agreed to the request and chose a new name, derived from her grandfather Frank Winfield Woolworth and likely Winfield Hall, his estate in Glen Cove, New York
.
Her only child, Lance Reventlow
, was born in Winfield House.
Its exterior features:
Its interior features:
In the listed buildings research, it details that after extensive alterations the house was first officially used by Winthrop Aldrich, Ambassador 1953-57. The interiors have undergone extensive alterations at several points, including 1969 by William Haynes, decorator.
It was Grade II listed for being:
, the house was used by a U.K. Royal Air Force
906 barrage balloon
unit and as an officer's club. It was visited during the war by film actor Cary Grant
who was married to the owner at the time. Between February 1951 and June 1952, it was the home of comedian and actor Arthur Askey
.
. In the early 1950s, the building was used as the London officers' club for the U.S. Third Air Force
.
, Anne Armstrong
, and John Hay Whitney
and the house has been visited by Queen Elizabeth II
, several U.S. presidents and many distinguished guests.
The house is listed on the U.S. Secretary of State
's Register of Culturally Significant Property
, which denotes properties owned by the U.S. State Department
with particular cultural or historical significance.
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- the largest private garden in or close to central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
after that of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. Since 1955, it has been the official ambassadorial residence
Ambassadorial residence
An ambassadorial residence is where an ambassador lives, often an official residence. In many cases it is in the same building as the chancery, which houses the embassy . Like embassies, such residences are considered inviolable and, in most cases, extraterritorial.The residences of high...
of the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
.
Property before Winfield House
The first house on the site was Hertford Villa, the largest of the eight villas originally built in the park as part of John NashJohn Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
's development scheme. Later the Georgian villa was known as St Dunstan's, because of the distinctive church clock that hung in front of it. Occupants of the villa included the Marquesses of Hertford
Marquess of Hertford
The titles of Earl of Hertford and Marquess of Hertford have been created several times in the peerages of England and Great Britain.The third Earldom of Hertford was created in 1559 for Edward Seymour, who was simultaneously created Baron Beauchamp of Hache...
, newspaper proprietor Lord Rothermere, and the American financier Otto H. Kahn. (Kahn lent it during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to a new charity for blinded servicemen, from which St Dunstan's
St Dunstan's
St Dunstan's is a large national charity in the United Kingdom, providing support, rehabilitation and respite care to blind ex-service personnel of the British Armed Forces....
takes its name.) The villa was damaged by fire in the 1930s and was subsequently purchased by the American heiress Barbara Hutton
Barbara Hutton
Barbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
, who demolished it.
Winfield House
In 1936, Hutton had a mansion built in the Neo-Georgian style, designed by Leonard Rome Guthrie of the English architectural practice Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie. It was at first known by the name of its predecessor, but Lord Fraser of LonsdaleIan Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale
William Jocelyn Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale CH CBE, , known as Ian Fraser, was a British Conservative Party politician, a Governor of the BBC, a successful businessman and the first person to be awarded a life peerage under the Life Peerages Act 1958.Fraser was blinded in World War I and...
, head of St Dunstan's
St Dunstan's
St Dunstan's is a large national charity in the United Kingdom, providing support, rehabilitation and respite care to blind ex-service personnel of the British Armed Forces....
, approached her, explaining that the name of her house and his organisation (still with an office in Regent's Park) caused confusion, and asking that she give up the historical name. She agreed to the request and chose a new name, derived from her grandfather Frank Winfield Woolworth and likely Winfield Hall, his estate in Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....
.
Her only child, Lance Reventlow
Lance Reventlow
Lance Reventlow, born Lawrence Graf von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow was a wealthy playboy, entrepreneur, and racing driver....
, was born in Winfield House.
Its exterior features:
- 13 bay entrance front with projecting three-bay ends flanking additional single storey entrance extension with central door flanked by Doric columns carrying a segment-topped parapet, containing a relief of the seal of the USA
- Continuous heavy stone cornice on all sides, angle quoins to all corners
- French windows with mullions and transoms to ground floor of each front
- 6' x 9' pane sash windows to first floor elevations
- 6' x 6' pane dormer windows to attic storey.
Its interior features:
- Entrance hall with neo-Adam plasterwork
- Reception hall entered via screen of paired fluted Doric columns
- Pilasters with Doric entablatures, pedimented doorcases to walls
- Green or Garden Room hung with Chinese wallpaper (originally from Townley Castle, County LouthCounty LouthCounty Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
, IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
with RococoRococoRococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
carved chimneypiece - Second Drawing Room with 18th century French boiseries and marble chimneypiece
- Family Dining Room with English 18th century-style panelling
- State Dining Room with fine 18th century French Rococo overdoor reliefs alongside later plasterwork * Staircase (altered 1969) with balustrade of wrought iron with lyre decoration and plaster ceiling top landing with screen of columns.
- First floor rooms including bedroom (originally Hutton's own, now called the Hutton Room) with painted Etruscan decoration and a French marble chimney-piece with columns; several panelled bedrooms
- Intact marble-lined bathrooms from Hutton's day.
- Neo-georgian wrought iron stairs with scrolled decoration and brass hand-rail to attic floor, on which numerous 1930s features (but not a mural) survive from the former nursery suite.
In the listed buildings research, it details that after extensive alterations the house was first officially used by Winthrop Aldrich, Ambassador 1953-57. The interiors have undergone extensive alterations at several points, including 1969 by William Haynes, decorator.
It was Grade II listed for being:
An exceptional ambassador's residence and as a notable Neo-georgian town house containing numerous features of note.
World War II usage
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the house was used by a U.K. Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
906 barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
unit and as an officer's club. It was visited during the war by film actor Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
who was married to the owner at the time. Between February 1951 and June 1952, it was the home of comedian and actor Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
.
Sale to the U.S. government
After the war, Hutton sold the house to the American government for one dollarUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
. In the early 1950s, the building was used as the London officers' club for the U.S. Third Air Force
Third Air Force
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
.
Ambassador's official residence
It became the ambassador's official residence in 1955. Among the ambassadors in residence have been Walter AnnenbergWalter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.-Early life:Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia...
, Anne Armstrong
Anne Armstrong
Anne Legendre Armstrong was a United States diplomat and politician, and the first female Counselor to the President; she served in that capacity under both the Ford and Nixon administrations. She was also the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.- Biography :She was born in New Orleans,...
, and John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
and the house has been visited by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, several U.S. presidents and many distinguished guests.
The house is listed on the U.S. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
's Register of Culturally Significant Property
Register of Culturally Significant Property
The Secretary of State's Register of Culturally Significant Property is the United States Department of State's registry of properties that are owned or leased by the Department and have particular cultural or historical significance....
, which denotes properties owned by the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
with particular cultural or historical significance.
See also
- List of structures in London
- Shadow LawnShadow Lawn (New Jersey)Shadow Lawn is a building in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. It was built in 1927 for Hubert T. Parsons, president of the F.W. Woolworth Company. Parsons was financially ruined by the Great Depression and the house was sold in 1939 for $100...
, mansion of Hubert T. Parsons, president of the F.W. Woolworth Company - United Kingdom – United States relations
- U.S. Embassy, London
External links
- Staff writerStaff writerStaff writer is a byline that indicates that the author of the article at hand is employed by the periodical that published the article as a regular staff member, and not as a freelance writer or special contributor....
(undated). "Winfield House". U.S. Embassy, London. Retrieved April 25, 2011. - Winfield House (Hertford Villa, St Dunstan's)