A GENERATION ago, it was said that London had few great private houses in comparison to Paris because so many, such as Devonshire House, had been demolished between the wars or consigned to institutional use. But, in recent years, a growing number of large mansions around the capital have been turned back into family homes. A splendid example is No 15, Kensington Palace Gardens, which had been used as a diplomatic residence from 1949 and was then left empty. In 2006, it was purchased by the current owners. Now, it has not only been sumptuously revived inside and out, but equipped with all the rooms that are today expected of a house of this standing— many of which would have been unimaginable to its Victorian owner, the lace-manufacturer and philanthropist George Moore.
Kensington Palace Gardens was developed on the site of the old kitchen garden at Kensington Palace, closed after the Prince Consort consolidated the royal kitchen gardens at Frogmore in Windsor Great Park. ‘From its great breadth, imposing aspect, and the correct taste displayed throughout,’ the broad avenue designed by James Pennethorne was set ‘to become a most aristocratic neighbourhood’— in the eyes of the Illustrated London News of 1846. The road was soon known as Millionaires’ Row, a more accurate description, as the new residents would be railway contractors, industrialists, builders and businessmen like Moore: merchant princes rather than actual peers.
Denne historien er fra August 02, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 02, 2023-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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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
