Admiral's House (originally known as Golden Spikes and later as The Grove) is a Grade II listed house in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

. The house's name is a

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the nam ...

, as no admirals have ever lived there. The house is featured in multiple paintings by

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

History

The house was built in 1700 by Charles Keys. The house was used as a

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

between 1730 and 1745, which may have been why Keys named it Golden Spikes. It appeared on

John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 In 1746, the French-born British surveyor and cartographer John Rocque produced two maps of London and the surrounding area. The better known of these has the full name ''A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark'' ...

. Naval captain Fountain North owned the house between c. 1775 to 1811. He renamed it The Grove and added a

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

to the roof of the house. He also added bulwarks and

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehic ...

s to the property, and in 1805, bought the nearby grove and demolished it to extend the house's garden. In the late 18th century, the house was mistaken as belonging to Admiral Barton. The problem arose because a print of The Grove was incorrectly entitled ''Admiral Barton’s Hampstead''. A possible explanation for the confusion was that Barton, who lived in Hampstead, fired cannon from his roof, and so it was assumed they were from the quarterdeck of The Grove. As a result, the house became known as Admiral's House, though no admiral has ever lived in the house. Admiral’s Walk, the road on which the house is situated, is similarly misnamed. In the 19th century,

painted Admiral's House a number of times. One painting, ''The Grove, or Admiral's House, Hampstead'', was bought by

Hugo von Tschudi Hugo Egidius von Tschudi (7 February 1851 – 23 November 1911) was an Austrian-born Swiss art historian, patron and museum curator. He most notably served as Director of the National Gallery (Berlin) from 1896 to 1908, as well as of the Ba ...

for the Berlin

Alte Nationalgalerie The Alte Nationalgalerie ( ''Old National Gallery'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. The gallery was built from 1862 to 1876 by the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia according to ...

, was later on display at the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

, and is now in the collections of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London. The painting is believed to be the view of Admiral's House from Constable's nearby house. Another painting, ''The Romantic House at Hampstead'' has been in the collections of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

lived in the house between 1856 and 1865, although he decided that Hampstead was too cold for him. In 1910,

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

commissioned a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

for Scott on Admiral's House. From 1917 to 1926,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Winifred Fortescue lived at Admiral's House. During his time in the house, John Fortescue wrote his multi-volume book ''Fortescue's History of the British Army''. The couple moved from Admiral's House to

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. In 1941, Norman Thomas Janes produced a

watercolour painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

of Admiral's House that is located in the V&A Museum collections. Admiral's House is believed to have been an inspiration for P. L. Travers' ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'' books. Travers' character Admiral Boom likes to fire cannons, as did Admiral Barton, who at the time was believed to have lived at the house. Scenes from the 1964

film adaptation were filmed at Admiral's House. which was used as Admiral Boom's house in the film. In 1950, the house was listed as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. In the 1960s and 1970s, the gardens of Admiral's House and the next door Grove Lodge were opened to the public on selected dates as part of the

National Gardens Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

. In 1976, the brick and

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

boundary wall to the house was Grade II listed, in a separate listing from the main house, and including neighbouring properties. In the late 20th century, windows were added to the roof, and the kitchen was extended. These changes were not included in the Grade II listing of the house. Since the 1980s, Admiral's House has been owned by John Gardiner KC.

Other buildings

In the 20th century, a wing of Admiral's House was converted into a separate house, named Grove House.

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

lived at Grove House from 1918 to 1933. In 2015, the owners of Grove House wanted to knock down part of the house to build an extension and 13 room basement. In the 1920s, parts of the gardens of Admiral House's were sold as land for two additional houses. Between 1931 and 1932,

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on place ...

built a studio next to the house.

References

{{reflist

External links

Historic England

Historic England
(for boundary wall) Grade II listed houses in the London Borough of Camden Houses completed in the 18th century Houses in Hampstead