Design No. 40 — Harrington House, Queen’s Palace Gardens
This building, with which the present collection of designs closes, is probably the most unpicturesque example in the volume. Its exterior has been frequently criticised; whatever its merits or demerits may be, it certainly is wholly unlike, while at the same time it is not inferior, to the strange style at present so popular with the younger branch of architectural professors, which appears to be a mixture of the Byzantine and Romanesque styles, joined with the Roman Gothic. Some call it the Missal style, others the Northern Italian. The sole recommendation of it is that it comes more expensive to carry out than any other. This house has at least the reputation of being a very comfortable one, and as more than usually adapted to receive large assemblies and fashionable parties. Indeed the noble Earl who erected it was so pleased with it, that on entering, on its completion, he addressed the following note to the author:—
H. H., Kensington Palace Gardens,
31 May, 1854.
My dear Sir,—
I take this opportunity of expressing to you my thanks for having constructed a house, in my humble judgment, without a fault.
Believe me most sincerely yours,
(Signed) Harrington.
To C. J. Richardson, Esq.
And after having resided in it nine months, he again
wrote as follows:—
H. H., Palace Gardens, Kensington,
2nd February, 1855.
My dear Sir,—
I pray you to accept my cordial thanks for your most able architectural skill in the construction of my house. I have lived in it one season, and have not discovered in it a single fault.
Believe me most truly yours,
(Signed) Harrington.
To C. J. Richardson, Esq.
The site upon which the house stands was taken by the Earl from the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s
Woods and Forests, and it certainly is, or was, one of the best sites for building in the metropolis. It adjoins Kensington Gardens, looking on the old winter garden of Queen Anne. Agreeable and admirable a site for building as this was, in 1853, it remained for some time utterly neglected. The first speculator had been ruined, and only one or two of his houses (one erected by Mr. Owen Jones, the architect) were standing in the road. Soon after the Earl of Harrington acquired the land, and erected this building, the whole of the road, on each side, was covered with first-class mansions.
The terms of the agreement were, that the Earl should take plot No. 9 and the northern portion of plot No. 10, having a frontage of 196 ft. to the Queen’s Road, and a depth of about 260 ft., for a period of 91¼ years, from the 5th July, 1851, at a peppercorn rent for the first year, of 73l. 10s. for the second year, and of 147l. a year for the remainder of the term, also a rent of 5s. a year in lieu of land-tax for every year except the first.
The Earl was to expend a sum of not less than 6000l. in erecting upon the ground a dwelling-house of the first-class style of building. The house was to be insured in the sum of 6000l., and the Earl was to pay jointly, with the adjacent occupiers, the expense of lighting and keeping up the road, which was a private one, and to pay the gatekeepers at the lodge. The rest of the covenants of the agreement were such as are usually found in such documents.
The house was, until the present year, the only Gothic one in the district, the Earl insisting upon having this, his favourite style, admitted. It stands in the centre of the road at the highest level, and is well up out of the ground. The principal floor is 7 ft. above the outside road of approach, and 14 ft. above the level of the public road. The whole of the walls stand on a basement of concrete, and the lower flooring is 5 ft. above the level of the foundations. The basement story is 14 ft. in height, and of entirely fireproof construction. The best rooms on the ground-floor are 17 ft. 6 in. in height, the secondary rooms are 15 ft. high. All the principal staircases are of stone; the ground plan on page 479 shows the entrance hall, a, approached by 12 steps; it is 30 ft. in length, by 21 ft. in width; b is the principal staircase, situated on one side of the saloon in the centre of the building; the latter is 41 ft. long by 21 ft. wide. The dining-room e, and the library c, on each side of the hall, are respectively 30 ft. by 22 ft. The great room, with the bay window, entered from the saloon, is the picture gallery f. This room is 41 ft. long by 30 ft. wide, without the bay. The drawing-rooms d, d, on each side, are each 25 ft. by 20 ft.; g, the conservatory, measures 40 ft. by 21 ft.; this, with the two drawing-rooms and the picture gallery, can in less than half an hour be thrown into one by the removal of the large folding-doors in the picture gallery, which can be taken away, frames complete, by simply removing a few screws. A length of drawing-room is then gained of 125 ft.
The principal staircase is shown in elevation on page 477; the plans are here given to a larger scale.
The lower plan shows a portion of the first flight and the servants’ passage, a, under the first landing; b is their staircase down to the basement, this should have been shown on the left-hand side. It is the footman’s staircase, adapted for him to ascend and descend readily from or to the basement, and the passage a permits him to enter either side of the house without being seen. The upper plan shows the two flights, right and left, rising from the principal landing. Each of these has 22 steps. Three more in the centre lead up to the gallery round the saloon; the section of the staircase, given on p. 482, clearly shows this arrangement. The staircase front is in Bath stone. The only ornaments are the decorated corbels supporting the small angular projections or buttresses necessary to receive the iron standards of the railing above. One of the corbels and a panel of the iron railing is given. This is carried up the stairs on both sides and round the gallery, and is richly coloured and gilt. The only remaining portions of the ground plan to be described are the secondary rooms. A side entrance is at j, and the waiting room, i, is also at the side; h is the servants’ staircase, going from the basement to the attic. On the other side of the building o is the Earl’s dressing-room, with a study or writing room by its side. This has a lift, n, from the kitchen, enabling it to be used as a serving room. The picture gallery has a flight of steps descending to a large ornamented garden at the back of the house, n n is the stable yard, and k k k rooms over the stable.
The section through the complete building, given on page 486, shows the general character of the interior. The rooms are wholly without ornament; all have plain cornices formed of running Gothic mouldings. The only decorated portion is the saloon (inf.), the coved ceiling of which has the shields of painted and gilt coats of arms of family connexions, together with mottoes and monograms. The skylight is filled with richly coloured embossed glass, every pane having a shield of arms, its ceiling being panelled with painted enrichments on a blue ground. A view of the saloon is given on p. 487; it contains in the centre a statue by Theed, of Lady Chandos Pole, the eldest daughter of the Earl. The statues are shown in the plan by the letters m m. The ground floor is supplied with warm-water pipes; these are shown by the dotted lines. They are sunk in the brickwork forming the substructure of the flooring, and covered with open ornamental ironwork. The hall has two warm-water pedestals. The whole of the rooms and conservatory are so warmed.
The latter part of the interior resembles in some respects a small chapel. A half-section of a portion of its roof is given on p. 488; it measures 22 ft. from the floor to the collar-beam. The corbels, from which the roof springs, are decorated with shields of arms, surrounded by a garland of strawberry leaves.
In the plan of the one-pair floor a is the boudoir or morning room; b b b are bedrooms; c c c dressing-rooms, and d is the bath-room. The gallery is shown as completely going round the saloon; its ceiling is of ground glass arranged in panels, each of which is moveable, with a skylight over the whole. There is plenty of light therefore afforded for the paintings with which the walls are covered.
The small attic plan shows these skylights on three sides only, likewise the sleeping-rooms b b, and the housemaid’s closet c. Under this plan is that of the upper room in the tower with its two slate cisterns, each capable of containing 800 gallons of water. They are supported by strong trussed girders fixed in the walls. This upper room is approached by a cottage staircase, the plan of which, with its 22 risers, is shown in cut on p. 490. It enables the room to be approached without any structural appearance being seen from without. A half elevation of the exterior, and another of its section is given above. It is well supplied with light.
The building contains upwards of forty rooms; the basement is very large, and contains considerable accommodation. The mere enumeration of these would require every letter in the alphabet to point them out in an engraving, but as it is desirable to show how closely a large establishment of servants can be packed together, the basement plan is given. a is the kitchen, b the scullery, and c the larder. The kitchen is provided with a lift f, and a small service window; d is the pastry-room, and e the still-room, with the lift; g is the dairy, h the washhouse, i the laundry, j the butler’s pantry, k the steward’s room with its strong closet; l is the housekeeper’s, with the cook’s room between it and the still-room, m is the servants’ hall, n the men’s sleeping room; o o are wine-cellars, p the butler’s wine-cellar, q the footman’s stairs under the principal staircase, r the warm-water furnace, by the steward’s room, placed at the back of his strong closet; s is the stable, containing eight stalls, one loose box, and a harness-room; t t t are cart-sheds, u is the cowhouse, v the dung-pit, w the coach-house, x x two of the three coal-cellars, y the dust-pit, and z z z are the closets. The carriage-road to the side entrance is formed over the cart-sheds and coal-cellars. These are arched over in brick and covered with a thick layer of Brown’s metallic lava, and are provided with proper drainage. The boot-cleaning place and that for lamps are between the coach-house and the cart-sheds.
The exterior of the building has been censured on account of the Gothic outline being too flat, the roofs too low, and all the windows having common sash frames. With regard to the latter, it may be considered very probable that if the Gothic race of architects had continued with us to the present day, they would have adopted plate glass for their windows, and put aside their lead-lights and small panes of common glass. One of the greatest improvements that could be made in our cathedrals, not excepting even St. Paul’s, would be the reglazing the windows in the modern style.
As a specimen of the architectural style of the building, the centre bay-window of the principal front is given, with its section and plan. It is 9 ft. 6 in. across, and 21 ft. 4 in. high, and stands directly over the chief entrance. The construction of a projecting bay-window coming over an archway requires a short description.
The three diagrams on page 495 show the manner in which such windows are corbelled out. The upper one is a plan of the bottom stone course, immediately over the key-stone of the arch; it shows also the centre stone of the second course upon it. The middle diagram shows the two courses from the back. It will be seen that the middle stone of the first course does not bear upon the arch, but is supported by the two end stones let into the wall. The last diagram is a plan of the upper course at top. Slate dowels were used, and an iron bar, shown in plan under elevation a, 3 in. by ¾ in., was placed across the course tailing into the walls on each side; and two bars p p, each 2½ by ¾ in. and 12 ft. in length, tied it to the flooring of the room. This is shown likewise in the plan, the dotted lines dividing the length of flooring; d is the upper course of stones, and c one of the principal beams of the floor.
The bell-turret stands 20 ft. above the roof. This is carved in oak; an elevation, section, and plan is given. Only those parts of the building are intended to be here illustrated which have some peculiarity of design or construction.
A building of this size would require about 150 working drawings to be made for it, and a considerable number to be given to show its construction.
It was completed in about two years, at an expense of 14,814l.; but this did not include the price of the warming apparatus, nor that of the lightning conductor fixed to the bell-turret.
Whatever opinions may be expressed in regard to the architectural details of this erection, the author at least can plead, as its owner stated in the letters, copies of which have been given, that the essentials of a house, convenience, comfort, and complete suitability for all domestic purposes, were accomplished. These objects being attained, any real or imaginary faults perceived by professional critics may be palliated if not forgotten.
Footnotes
A Now Sir William Fothergill Cooke—October, 1869.
B First illustrated by the author in his work, “Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I.”
C The garden entrance to the ancient palace of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, alla Trinita de’ Monti. The architecture of Annibale Lippi.