Henry Holland (architect) - Later Work

Later Work

The Prince of Wales brother Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany commissioned Holland to extend Dover House (then called York House), work started in 1788 he designed the facade to Whitehall with its portico and behind it the circular domed vestibule 40 feet in diameter with an inner ring of eight scagliola Doric columns.

In 1785 George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer entrusted Holland with the remodelling of his country house Althorp, the exterior was encased in white Mathematical tiles to hide the unfashionable red brick and he added the four Corinthian pilasters to the entrance front. He also added the corridors to the wings. Several interiors are by Holland, the Library, Billiard Room and the South Drawing Room. He also remodelled the Picture Gallery.

One of the Prince of Wales's friends was Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford, he commissioned Holland to remodel and extend his country residence Woburn Abbey from 1786, this involved a remodelling the south front, within the south wing Holland remodelled several rooms (1787–90), the Venetian Room, to house twenty four paintings of Venice by Canaletto, the Ante-Library and the Library a tripartite room divided by openings containing two columns of the Corinthian order. Also he created the greenhouse (1789)(later altered by Jeffry Wyattville c.1818) attached to the stable block, a grand riding-school (1789) demolished, indoor tennis court, demolished and Chinese style dairy (1789). Within the park he also designed a new entrance archway (1790), farm buildings, cottages and kennels. In 1801 he converted the greenhouse into a sculpture gallery to house the Duke's collection of Roman sculpture, adding the 'Temple of Liberty' at the east end to house busts of Charles James Fox and other prominent Whigs.

Holland went on to design the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, when it was rebuilt (c.1791-94) as Europe's largest functioning theatre with 3919 seats. The building was 300 feet in length, 155 feet in width and 108 feet tall. The Portland stone exterior was of four floors, rising a floor higher above the stage, the facades were fairly plain, the main embellishments were on the ground floor a single storey Ionic colonnade surrounding the building, there were shops and taverns behind it. The auditorium was approximately semi-circular in plan, with the Pit, there was a row of eight boxes flanking each side of the Pit, two levels of boxes above, then two galleries above them. The stage was 42 feet wide and 34 feet to the top of the scenery. The Theatre Royal burnt down on the night of 24 February 1809. At the Royal Opera House he rebuilt the auditorium in 1792. The new auditorium contained a pit and four horseshoe shaped, straight-sided tiers, the first three were boxes, and the four the two-shilling gallery. The ceiling was painted to resemble the sky. In addition Holland extended the theatre to provide room for the Scene Painters, Scene Room, Green room, Dressing Rooms etc. The theatre burnt down on the 20th September 1808. From 1802 Holland converted York House on Piccadilly into the Albany apartments.

• The Exterior, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, burnt down 1809

• The Interior, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, burnt down 1809

• Covent Garden Theatre, burnt down 1808

• The Albany

In 1796 Holland started remodelling Southill House, Southill, Bedfordshire, for Samuel Whitbread the work would continue until 1802, the exterior was remodelled with loggias and a portico with Ionic columns and the interiors completed modernised in the latest French Directoire style. The finest interiors are the library, drawing room, dining room, Mrs Whitbread's room and the boudoir. In the garden Holland created the north terrace and the temple with four Tuscan columns.

In 1796 Holland received the commission to design the new headquarters for the East India Company, East India House in Leadenhall Street, the city of London. In order to find a suitable design a competition had been held between Holland, John Soane and George Dance. The building was of two stories and fifteen bays in length, the centre five having a portico of six Ionic columns, that only projected by the depth of a column from the facade. The building was demolished in 1861-62.