Roger Pratt (architect) - Houses

Houses

In the 1650s Pratt became involved in the rebuilding of Coleshill House, Berkshire (c.1658–62; dem. 1952), the home of his cousin, Sir George Pratt. The house was formerly attributed to Inigo Jones, or his pupil John Webb, but although Jones was involved, the design is now considered to be Pratt's. The house is an example of the double-pile house, which was popular in seventeenth century England, and commended by Pratt since ‘it seems of all others to be the most useful … for that we have there much room in a little compass … and there may be a great spare of walling’ (Gunther, 24). Although a less effective example of the planning and the organization of circulation that Pratt was so interested in, the grand two-story staircase and the use of central corridors on each floor meant that suites of apartments could be separated and prevented private rooms having to act as passageways through the house. Most probably inspired by his travels, the house is a mix of Italian, French, Dutch and English architectural ideas and includes features such as the rooftop platform and cupola, dormered attics, half-sunk basement, astylar elevation, and symmetrically placed apartments. Palladian details are evident in the windows and cornices, and the "double-pile" plan is derived from Jones' Queen's House in Greenwich (1614–1617). The prominent chimneys and dormers, and the rusticated basement, are more French in inspiration, while the equal proportions of the storeys were an innovation, compared to the Palladian manner of emphasising a piano nobile, or principal floor.

Between 1663 and 1665, Pratt was engaged on houses for Sir Ralph Bankes, at Kingston Lacy, Dorset, (1663–5; altered 1835–41) and for William Alington, 3rd Baron Alington, at Horseheath Hall, Cambridgeshire (1663–5; dem. 1792). Refining his ideas and correcting the problem Coleshill’s corridors caused with accidental contact between family, visitors and servants, a complication addressed by many seventeenth century architects, Pratt adapted his planning solutions. Both Kingston Lacy and Horseheath Hall had tripartite plans with a central two-storey hall. At each end Pratt introduced large stair compartments, with independent apartments at the angles. At Horseheath, Pratt added a pediment to the front. The house was illustrated in Colen Campbell's architectural survey, Vitruvius Britannicus, although it was again attributed to John Webb. The eleven-bay house had a three-bay pediment, rusticated quoins, and a hipped roof topped by a balustrade and lantern..

Pratt's most influential building was Clarendon House, constructed between 1664 and 1667 for the Lord Chancellor, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. Located on Piccadilly in the City of Westminster, the house was short-lived, and records are limited. Engravings show a pedimented house similar to Horseheath, but with short wings at each end. Clarendon represented the most developed form of Pratt's ideal, and was "among the first great classical houses to be built in London". It was widely praised, and became widely imitated, for example at Belton House. In 1669, Pratt rebuilt his own home, Ryston Hall, Norfolk, in a French-influenced style.

Little of Pratt's work remains intact. Clarendon House was sold in 1675, and demolished in 1683, only 16 years after its completion. Horseheath was pulled down in 1777, and Coleshill burned down in 1952. Kingston Lacy was altered by Sir Charles Barry in the 1830s, and Ryston Hall was remodelled by Sir John Soane.