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Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753), and completed in 1729. The house and garden occupy 26.33 hectares (65.1 acres). The garden was created mainly by the architect and landscape designer William Kent, and it is one of the earliest examples of the English landscape garden.
After the death of the 3rd Earl of Burlington in 1753, and the subsequent deaths of his last surviving daughter (Charlotte Boyle) in 1754 and his widow in 1758, the property was ceded to William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Charlotte's husband. After William's death in 1764, the villa passed to his and Charlotte's orphaned young son, William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. His wife, Georgiana Spencer, a prominent and controversial figure in fashion and politics whom he married in 1774, used the house as a retreat and as a Whig stronghold for many years; it was where Charles James Fox died in 1806. Prime Minister George Canning also died there in 1827, in a bedroom in the John White wing buildings.
During the 19th century, the house fell into decline and was rented out by the Cavendish family. It was used as a mental hospital, the Chiswick Asylum, from 1892. In 1929, the 9th Duke of Devonshire sold Chiswick House to Middlesex County Council, and it became a fire station. The villa suffered damage during World War II, and in 1944, a V-2 rocket damaged one of the two wings, which were both demolished in 1956. Today, the house is a Grade I listed building and is maintained by English Heritage.
The original Chiswick House was a Jacobean house owned by Sir Edward Wardour, and possibly built by his father. It is dated c. 1610 in a late 17th-century engraving of the Chiswick House estate by Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff, and was constructed with four sides around an open courtyard. Wardour sold the house in 1624 to Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset. The house was quite large: in the 1664 Hearth Tax documents it is recorded as having 33 fireplaces. The house was at the south end of the Royalist line in the Battle of Turnham Green (1641), during the First English Civil War. The house was purchased by Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan in 1682.
The Jacobean house was used by the Boyle family as a summer retreat from their central London home, Burlington House. After a fire in 1725, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (Lord Burlington), then head of the family, decided to build a new "villa" to the west of the old Chiswick House.
During his trip to Italy in 1719, Burlington had acquired a passion for Palladian architecture. He had not closely inspected Roman ruins or made detailed drawings on the sites in Italy; he relied on Palladio and Scamozzi as his interpreters of the classic tradition. Another source of his inspiration were drawings he collected, including those of Palladio himself, which had belonged to Inigo Jones and his pupil John Webb. According to Howard Colvin, "Burlington's mission was to reinstate in Augustan England the canons of Roman architecture as described by Vitruvius, exemplified by its surviving remains, and practised by Palladio, Scamozzi and Jones."
Burlington, himself a talented amateur architect and (in the words of Horace Walpole) "Apollo of the Arts", designed the villa with the aid of William Kent, who also took a leading role in designing the gardens. Burlington built the villa with enough space to house his art collection, regarded as containing "some of the best pictures in Europe", and his more select pieces of furniture, some of which was purchased on his first Grand Tour of Europe in 1714. Construction of the villa took place between 1726 and 1729.
After Burlington's death in 1753, his wife, Lady Dorothy Savile, and daughter, Charlotte, who had married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire in 1748, inherited the house. Charlotte died in December 1754, and Lady Burlington died in September 1758. Several views of Burlington's house were made by the architect-draughtsman John Donowell around this time.
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Chiswick House AI simulator
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Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753), and completed in 1729. The house and garden occupy 26.33 hectares (65.1 acres). The garden was created mainly by the architect and landscape designer William Kent, and it is one of the earliest examples of the English landscape garden.
After the death of the 3rd Earl of Burlington in 1753, and the subsequent deaths of his last surviving daughter (Charlotte Boyle) in 1754 and his widow in 1758, the property was ceded to William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Charlotte's husband. After William's death in 1764, the villa passed to his and Charlotte's orphaned young son, William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. His wife, Georgiana Spencer, a prominent and controversial figure in fashion and politics whom he married in 1774, used the house as a retreat and as a Whig stronghold for many years; it was where Charles James Fox died in 1806. Prime Minister George Canning also died there in 1827, in a bedroom in the John White wing buildings.
During the 19th century, the house fell into decline and was rented out by the Cavendish family. It was used as a mental hospital, the Chiswick Asylum, from 1892. In 1929, the 9th Duke of Devonshire sold Chiswick House to Middlesex County Council, and it became a fire station. The villa suffered damage during World War II, and in 1944, a V-2 rocket damaged one of the two wings, which were both demolished in 1956. Today, the house is a Grade I listed building and is maintained by English Heritage.
The original Chiswick House was a Jacobean house owned by Sir Edward Wardour, and possibly built by his father. It is dated c. 1610 in a late 17th-century engraving of the Chiswick House estate by Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff, and was constructed with four sides around an open courtyard. Wardour sold the house in 1624 to Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset. The house was quite large: in the 1664 Hearth Tax documents it is recorded as having 33 fireplaces. The house was at the south end of the Royalist line in the Battle of Turnham Green (1641), during the First English Civil War. The house was purchased by Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan in 1682.
The Jacobean house was used by the Boyle family as a summer retreat from their central London home, Burlington House. After a fire in 1725, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (Lord Burlington), then head of the family, decided to build a new "villa" to the west of the old Chiswick House.
During his trip to Italy in 1719, Burlington had acquired a passion for Palladian architecture. He had not closely inspected Roman ruins or made detailed drawings on the sites in Italy; he relied on Palladio and Scamozzi as his interpreters of the classic tradition. Another source of his inspiration were drawings he collected, including those of Palladio himself, which had belonged to Inigo Jones and his pupil John Webb. According to Howard Colvin, "Burlington's mission was to reinstate in Augustan England the canons of Roman architecture as described by Vitruvius, exemplified by its surviving remains, and practised by Palladio, Scamozzi and Jones."
Burlington, himself a talented amateur architect and (in the words of Horace Walpole) "Apollo of the Arts", designed the villa with the aid of William Kent, who also took a leading role in designing the gardens. Burlington built the villa with enough space to house his art collection, regarded as containing "some of the best pictures in Europe", and his more select pieces of furniture, some of which was purchased on his first Grand Tour of Europe in 1714. Construction of the villa took place between 1726 and 1729.
After Burlington's death in 1753, his wife, Lady Dorothy Savile, and daughter, Charlotte, who had married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire in 1748, inherited the house. Charlotte died in December 1754, and Lady Burlington died in September 1758. Several views of Burlington's house were made by the architect-draughtsman John Donowell around this time.