Gothic Rebuilding
It is the north and west ranges of the house that have never received the architectural acclaim they deserve, remodelled circa 1750 to a design by the architect Thomas Iremonger, with battlements and ogee topped windows, they are a form of gothic known as Strawberry Hill. This style predates the so-called invention of Strawberry Hill Gothic at Horace Walpole's house by nearly twenty years.
The interior of the house was also remodelled at this time, when a suite of magnificent state rooms were created with remarkable rococo ceilings, and superb marble fireplaces. One fireplace is of especial note carved by Sir Henry Cheere. The 60-foot-long (18 m), panelled, Great Hall with its huge fireplace is the largest room in the house.
Read more about this topic: Hampden House
Famous quotes containing the words gothic and/or rebuilding:
“A Gothic cathedral affirms that it was done by us and not done by us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“But look what we have built ... low-income projects that become worse centers of delinquency, vandalism and general social hopelessness than the slums they were supposed to replace.... Cultural centers that are unable to support a good bookstore. Civic centers that are avoided by everyone but bums.... Promenades that go from no place to nowhere and have no promenaders. Expressways that eviscerate great cities. This is not the rebuilding of cities. This is the sacking of cities.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)