Palmer House is a

grade II* listed 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, H ...

Georgian residence built in 1752 in the town of

Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...

, North

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It is notable as it retains many original features, including fine ornate plaster ceilings, marble and carved fireplaces, mahogany doors and a fine balustraded staircase.

History

Palmer House was built in 1752 by John Palmer, three times Mayor of Great Torrington and husband of Mary Reynolds, the author of ''Devonshire Dialogue'' and eldest sister of the artist Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

, both brought up at

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient Stannary, stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down riv ...

in South Devon, who painted the portraits of his Palmer nieces. The house remained in the ownership of the Palmer family until the 1890s.

Visitors

Many famous people visited and stayed at the house. Sir

, brother-in-law of the builder, was a regular visitor.Lee, Elizabeth.

Mary Palmer Mary Palmer (née Reynolds; 9 February 1716 – 27 May 1794) was a British author from Devon who wrote ''Devonshire Dialogue'', once considered the "best piece of literature in the vernacular of Devon." She was the mother of painter Theophi ...

. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol.43. Dr.

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, a friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, stayed at the house in 1762. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who had relatives in the area, is also known to have visited Palmer House.

Description

The house is a three-storied building with the front facade made of red brick with Ionic pilasters. In the late 18th century a wing was added to the back of the house. A gazebo formerly in the rear garden is now located at Rosemoor Gardens in the same town. The first floor has a plaster ceiling with Palmer arms and Ionic mantel. The Palmer arms are represented in stained glass on the half-landing of the staircase. Nikolaus Pevsner called it the "best house in town". It has also been described as "a most interesting example of brickwork subordinated to a Palladian treatment of pilasters and cornice".

Notes

References

{{coord, 50, 57, 10.08, N, 4, 8, 41.64, W, region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1752 Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Great Torrington