Monmouth House, Hyde Park Gate, London SW7 A home of Mr Hamish Ogston
IN about 1860, one William Heathcote, the owner of 29, Hyde Park Gate, decided to add a coach house with servants’ accommodation to his property. The addition made his house—one of a pair constructed in the 1840s with large gardens—more commodious. It went on to be the residence of a series of distinguished people, including Sir Henry and Lady Elizabeth Babington-Smith (daughter of the 9th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India in 1894–99). In 1927, it was bought by Sir Roderick Jones, head of the news agency Reuters. His wife, Lady Jones—the novelist and playwright Enid Bagnold—recalled in her Autobiography the delight she felt in finding ‘this untouched house with its big garden’, which she felt had the character of a country house swallowed up by expanding London.
The couple swiftly commissioned Edwin Lutyens to re-order the property and, in 1928, he effectively absorbed the former coach house into the domestic accommodation of No 29. A plan survives, which can be read with commentaries and asides in Bagnold’s memoir, to show how Lutyens created a vast new drawing room-cum-ballroom on its ground floor, with the former hayloft ‘which in our time was the biggest nursery in London’ on the second floor. This portion of their house now became the hub of their entertaining and family life. The drawing room was additionally the setting for after-dinner demonstration boxing matches.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 27, 2022 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 27, 2022 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery