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Burnham Westgate Hall
Burnham Westgate Hall is a Georgian country house near Burnham Market, Norfolk, about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the north Norfolk coast. It was remodelled in Palladian style in the 1780s by John Soane: it was Soane's first substantial country house commission, immediately before he started Letton Hall in 1784.
It was used to train domestic servants in the 1930s and 1940s, before becoming a local authority old people's home from 1945 to 1990. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1953.
It returned to use as a domestic house under the ownership of Patricia Rawlings and her partner Paul Zuckerman in 1991. It was put up for sale for £10 million in 2012, and there was speculation that it might be bought by Johnny Depp, but ultimately it was not sold then. It was put up for sale again in 2019, for £7 million and again in 2020 for £4.5 million.
The previous building on the site, Polstede Hall, had been built in the 1750s by Matthew Brettingham for Pinckney Wilkinson. Brettingham's house resembled a wing of the nearby Holkham Hall. Wilkinson gave the house to his daughter Anne when she married Thomas Pitt in 1783. Thomas Pitt was the nephew of the Prime Minister William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham and a cousin of William Pitt the Younger; he became the 1st Baron Camelford in 1784.
The current house was remodelled in 1783-1785 in Palladian style by John Soane, who also added stables and lodge. It is, however, possible that the quite conservative interior remodelling work was done by Norwich builder and sculptor John de Carle (1750-1828) and Lord Camelford to Soane's designs: de Carle supplied at least one of the fireplaces. It has been considered a smaller version of Holkham Hall nearby. Soane also added a split cantilevered staircase, and the piano nobile on the first floor. Pitt likened his new house to the Palazzo Pitti.
The Hall has three storeys, with about 15,870 sq ft (1,474 m2) of living space, and seven bays on the main west elevation, and three on the north and south side returns. It is built of plain Gault bricks, with stone plinth, dressings and platbands between the ground and first floor, and slate roofs. The three-storey, five-bay centre block is surmounted by a three-bay triangular pediment, with a moulded brick modillion eaves cornice, and two long low chimneystacks. The three central bays have two ground floor windows, either side of a central c.1949 neo-Georgian replacement porch, with three windows on the first and second floors.
Most of the windows are sashes with glazing bars, under flat rubbed brick arches. Those on the first floor have a stone balustrade recessed between the two stone platbands running across the façade. The central window, above the porch, also has a stucco architrave with console brackets, and a segmental pediment. The second floor central window has a stucco rectangular architrave surround, and there is a fixed sash in the centre of the pediment.
The flanking bays of the central block are slightly recessed, with one sash window on each floor under flat rubbed brick arches. At second floor above the outer wings the corners are further recessed, with a low parapet around the slate roof. To either side is a two-storey single bay wing, brought forward in line with the pedimented central bays.
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Burnham Westgate Hall
Burnham Westgate Hall is a Georgian country house near Burnham Market, Norfolk, about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the north Norfolk coast. It was remodelled in Palladian style in the 1780s by John Soane: it was Soane's first substantial country house commission, immediately before he started Letton Hall in 1784.
It was used to train domestic servants in the 1930s and 1940s, before becoming a local authority old people's home from 1945 to 1990. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1953.
It returned to use as a domestic house under the ownership of Patricia Rawlings and her partner Paul Zuckerman in 1991. It was put up for sale for £10 million in 2012, and there was speculation that it might be bought by Johnny Depp, but ultimately it was not sold then. It was put up for sale again in 2019, for £7 million and again in 2020 for £4.5 million.
The previous building on the site, Polstede Hall, had been built in the 1750s by Matthew Brettingham for Pinckney Wilkinson. Brettingham's house resembled a wing of the nearby Holkham Hall. Wilkinson gave the house to his daughter Anne when she married Thomas Pitt in 1783. Thomas Pitt was the nephew of the Prime Minister William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham and a cousin of William Pitt the Younger; he became the 1st Baron Camelford in 1784.
The current house was remodelled in 1783-1785 in Palladian style by John Soane, who also added stables and lodge. It is, however, possible that the quite conservative interior remodelling work was done by Norwich builder and sculptor John de Carle (1750-1828) and Lord Camelford to Soane's designs: de Carle supplied at least one of the fireplaces. It has been considered a smaller version of Holkham Hall nearby. Soane also added a split cantilevered staircase, and the piano nobile on the first floor. Pitt likened his new house to the Palazzo Pitti.
The Hall has three storeys, with about 15,870 sq ft (1,474 m2) of living space, and seven bays on the main west elevation, and three on the north and south side returns. It is built of plain Gault bricks, with stone plinth, dressings and platbands between the ground and first floor, and slate roofs. The three-storey, five-bay centre block is surmounted by a three-bay triangular pediment, with a moulded brick modillion eaves cornice, and two long low chimneystacks. The three central bays have two ground floor windows, either side of a central c.1949 neo-Georgian replacement porch, with three windows on the first and second floors.
Most of the windows are sashes with glazing bars, under flat rubbed brick arches. Those on the first floor have a stone balustrade recessed between the two stone platbands running across the façade. The central window, above the porch, also has a stucco architrave with console brackets, and a segmental pediment. The second floor central window has a stucco rectangular architrave surround, and there is a fixed sash in the centre of the pediment.
The flanking bays of the central block are slightly recessed, with one sash window on each floor under flat rubbed brick arches. At second floor above the outer wings the corners are further recessed, with a low parapet around the slate roof. To either side is a two-storey single bay wing, brought forward in line with the pedimented central bays.