LAUNCHED onto the market in recent weeks at a guide price of £6.5 million through Savills (01225 474501), the exquisite, Grade I-listed 25, Royal Crescent, Bath, is one of only a handful of complete townhouses in single private ownership in this most prestigious of English addresses. The first crescent of terraced houses ever constructed in England, the Royal Crescent was designed by John Wood the Elder and built by his son, John Wood the Younger, who became Bath’s principal architect following his father’s death in 1754.
Between 1767 and 1775, Wood created the 500ft-long curved façade with its 114 Ionic columns. An ingenious sales concept allowed each original purchaser to buy a length of the façade and commission his own architect to build a house behind it to his own specification—thus what may appear to be two houses is occasionally only one. This novel approach to town planning, which contrasts an imposing, uniform, front façade with a mix of differing roof heights and fenestration at the rear— irreverently described as ‘Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs’—can be found in developments throughout Bath.
At 25, Royal Crescent, the original coach house behind the house has been cleverly converted to a three-bedroom, three-bathroom annexe with a large kitchen/reception room and independent access from Crescent Lane. The complex includes a double garage and a gated courtyard for off-road parking, with the original stables providing additional parking and outbuildings. Immediately behind the house is a raised terrace, with steps leading down to a lawn flanked by stone pathways and herbaceous borders. Beyond this, a ha-ha prevents animals grazing the parkland below from straying onto the more formal garden areas.
Denne historien er fra March 25, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 25, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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
