Homewood is an
Arts and Crafts style country house in
Knebworth
Knebworth is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Hert ...
, Hertfordshire, England. Designed and built by architect
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
around 1900–3, using a mixture of
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
and
Neo-Georgian architecture, it is a Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The house was one of Lutyens' first experiments in the addition of classical features to his previously vernacular style,
[Gradidge (1981), pp. 46–9.] and the introduction of symmetry into his plans.
[Butler (2003), pp. 31–6.] The gardens, also designed by Lutyens, are Grade II listed in the
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...
.
House
Lutyens designed the house for his mother-in-law,
Edith Bulwer-Lytton
Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton, (née Villiers; 15 September 1841 – 17 September 1936) was a British aristocrat. As the wife of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, she was vicereine of India. After his death, she was a court-at ...
, the
dowager
A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a "dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchy, monarchical and aristocracy, aristocratic Title#Aristocr ...
countess of Lytton, and her daughter, the
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
Constance Lytton
Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton (12 February 1869 – 2 May 1923), usually known as Constance Lytton, was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control. Sh ...
.
[Ridley (2002), pp. 139–42.] It was built at the southern end of Park Wood on the Lyttons' Knebworth estate, about southeast of
Knebworth House
Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In its surrounding park is t ...
, using whitewashed brick,
weatherboarding
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
and plain tiles.
[ Construction was carried out by the estate builders, to a tight budget.][ Sources differ on the dates, ranging from 1900, to 1903.][
The house's square plan, measuring 100 feet wide by 98 feet deep, has been compared to ]Philip Webb
Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common ...
's earlier design for Joldwynds
Joldwynds is a modernist style house in Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, England, designed by architect Oliver Hill for Wilfred Greene, 1st Baron Greene. Completed in 1932,Powers (2005), pp. 138–139. it is a Grade II listed building.
It replaced an ...
, in Surrey. The northwest, entrance front with its three gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s is very like that of Joldwynds. The southwest, side elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
has only two gables, however. The southeast, garden front differs radically from Webb. The roof is cut away in the centre to reveal a two-storey, classical facade with Ionic pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s,[ creating the appearance of an embedded ]villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
,[Amery (1981), p. 85.] emerging from the vernacular covering of tiled roofs and elm weatherboarding, which elsewhere around the house come down to the tops of the ground floor windows. The garden front is flanked by two loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
s facing each other across a terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
.[ Other classical touches, on the house's entrance front, include a central, rusticated porch,][ which has been called ]Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
,[ and two flanking small pavilions with rusticated ]pier
image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...
s.[ The western pavilion contained a ]darkroom
A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...
, and the northern one a larder and scullery
A scullery is a room in a house, traditionally used for washing up dishes and laundering clothes, or as an overflow kitchen. Tasks performed in the scullery include cleaning dishes and cooking utensils (or storing them), occasional kitchen work, ...
.[ There is a small extension on the northeast, service side of the house.][ The lower part of the house brickwork is painted in a cream colour
The interior is classical, with the rooms laid out compactly on a grid of three by three units.][ At the centre is a large, well-lit staircase.][ The centre of the garden front is occupied by the dining room,][ with three large ]french window
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...
s leading onto the terrace.[ It appears these windows were much admired by Winston Churchill, on his visits to Knebworth. So much so, that in 1928, when he enlarged ]Chartwell
Chartwell is a country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. In t ...
in Kent, he asked his architect ,Philip Tilden, to copy these three windows, but in a more square dining room, to fit a round table. From the entrance front, the porch is entered via an arched open doorway which Lutyens surmounted with an open, unglazed tympanum.[ White painted quoins are used both in the doorway and in the loggias. This leads into a long passage, with two font doors, as at, Greywalls, Gullane, Lothian, built the same year. The glazed door on the right giving access to the vestibule.][ This arrangement produced draughts and helped to make the house cold in the winter; Edith's bedroom gained the nickname "]Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
".[ The house only had one bathroom.
After her ordeals in ]Holloway Prison
HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016.
Hist ...
, Constance's failing health led to a stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in 1912, and she spent the rest of her life at Homewood with her mother. She died in 1923, only days after moving out of Homewood to a flat in Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
, London, in an attempt to restart an active life.
The composer Elisabeth Lutyens
Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE (9 July 190614 April 1983) was an English composer.
Early life and education
Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London on 9 July 1906. She was one of the five children of Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), a me ...
CBE spent many holidays here with her grandmother, and wrote about Homewood in her autobiography, "A Goldfish Bowl" (pub Cassel Cassel may refer to:
People
* Cassel (surname)
Places
;France
* Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France
** Battle of Cassel (1071)
** Battle of Cassel (1328)
** Battle of Cassel (1677)
;Germany
* Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse re ...
1972) as a "delicious house" P5.
Sir Edwin Lutyens visited on the 15th September 1931 and was photographed kneeling in the garden in front of his seated mother in law, the Dowager Countess, on her 90th birthday, which she shared with her twin sister, Lady Loch. Lutyens' wife, Lady Emily Lutyens, and the Dowager Countess of Balfour, ( the former Betty Bulwer-Lytton"), were also present.
When Edith died in 1936, the house passed to her son Victor Bulwer-Lytton and in 1947 to his daughter, Hermione Cobbold
Hermione Cobbold, Baroness Cobbold (born Margaret Hermione Millicent Bulwer-Lytton; 31 August 1905 – 27 October 2004), known as Lady Hermione Bulwer-Lytton until 1930, was the British matriarch of Knebworth House and wife of Cameron Fromanteel ...
. In the early 1970s, the Pollock-Hill family bought the house. They have restored it, mostly following Lutyens' plans, but have added some bathrooms.[Jenkins (2015), pp. 234–6.]
Garden
Beyond the house's southeast front with its stone-flagged terrace are yew hedges and flowerbeds, and a lower area of lawn below a retaining wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides.
Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
. There are views to the southeast over farmland towards distant hills. Beyond the southwest elevation is another lawned area and a raised croquet
Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court.
Its international governing body is the Wor ...
lawn.[
]
Notes
References
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External links
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{{coord, 51, 51, 48, N, 0, 12, 09, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Arts and Crafts architecture in England
Buildings and structures in North Hertfordshire District
Grade II* listed buildings in Hertfordshire
Grade II* listed houses
Country houses in Hertfordshire
Works of Edwin Lutyens in England
Grade II listed parks and gardens in Hertfordshire
Arts and Crafts gardens
Knebworth