The house from an 1810 hand-colored engraving
Built / Designed For: Sir William Clayton, MP for Blechingley
House & Family History: Harleyford is a red brick villa of five bays in the Neoclassical style. The house was the first of a series of villas designed by Sir Robert Taylor and is probably the most notable of the group. Harleyford contains a domed inner hall and has a drawing room with particularly fine plaster wall panels depicting painting, hunting, fishing, and music. A painting of Harleyford Manor by Zuccarelli hangs today at Squerryes Court in Kent. Harleyford is one of the houses said to have been the inspiration for Toad Hall in "The Wind in the Willows."
Garden & Outbuildings: On the terrace is a statue dated 1714 of Sir Robert Clayton as lord mayor of London. Also extant is the late 18th century Gothick style dairy and the 18th century ice house. In the grounds are the ruins of an octagonal temple that once had a dome, possibly Robert Taylor's 1775 Temple of Friendship.
Architect: Lancelot Brown
Designed: Landscaping
Title: Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, The
Author: Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth
Year Published: 1994
Reference: pgs. 372-373
Publisher: London: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0140710620
Book Type: Hardback
Title: England's Lost Houses From the Archives of Country Life
Author: Worsley, Giles
Year Published: 2002
Reference: pg. 10
Publisher: London: Aurum Press
ISBN: 1854108204
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Squerryes Court Guidebook
Author: NA
Year Published: NA
Publisher: NA
ISBN: NA
Book Type: Light Softback
House Listed: Grade I
Park Listed: Grade II
Past Seat / Home of: Sir William Clayton, 18th century.
Current Ownership Type: Corporation
Primary Current Ownership Use: Offices
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No