Career As Amateur Architect
According to a British weekly, Somerset House Gazette, and Literary Museum, Astley was also well known for his alterations to several residences, among them, Schomberg House, built for the third Duke of Schomberg and which Astley owned and used as his London residence.
"In the structure and decoration of small buildings, rich as the time is in architecture, Astley's architecture was pre-eminent: Pall Mall is one instance; Lady Archer's saloon and conservatory at Barnes is another; Duckinfield is yet finer than either. The saloon, the loggio in front, the chamber on each side, and the great octagon, all are as exquisite as original, from their first idea to their last". Of Dukinfield Lodge, which Astley completed in 1775 (demolished 1948), one element was especially admired: "The most interesting room is octagon in form; it is decorated by stained glass, and here was a portion of the valuable collection of pictures acquired by the two Astleys, father and son ". A 1795 description of Dukinfield Lodge describes it as containing "a fine octagon room with painted windows. Most of the others are small, but elegant, and are decorated with pictures chiefly by the hand of Mr Astley, who had been a painter by profession. The whole building was never finished".
Astley also remodeled Elm Bank, his house in Barnes, which became the home and studio of designer Christopher Dresser in 1889.
Read more about this topic: John Astley (painter)
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“It was always the work that was the gyroscope in my life. I don’t know who could have lived with me. As an architect you’re absolutely devoured. A woman’s cast in a lot of roles and a man isn’t. I couldn’t be an architect and be a wife and mother.”
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