Northumberland House

Built / Designed For: Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton

House & Family History: Northumberland House was built in 1605 by Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, on the site of a pre-Reformation convent. In 1642 the house passed into the possession of the Percy family, later dukes of Northumberland (an illegitimate son of the 1st Duke was James Smithson [born 1765], who founded the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC). Northumberland House remained in the Percy family until it was demolished in 1874 to make way for Northumberland Avenue, which connected the newly-made Embankment with Trafalgar Square. Robert Adam's brilliant and daring Glass Drawing Room was disassembled and stored at Syon House after the demolition of Northumberland House; a few bits of it are still at Syon today, though most of it was sold to Bert Crowther, who famously hired the room out for parties. In 1953 Crowther's parts of the room were purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum; in 2002 one section of the Glass Drawing Room was installed in the V&A's new British Galleries (see photo in "Images" section). The Glass Drawing Room measured 36 by 22 feet and had eight large pier glasses, with the balance of the wall surfaces paneled with red and green glass overlaid with Neoclassical designs. In 2001 the V&A commissioned a miniature model of the Glass Drawing Room as it appeared in 1775, before its 1820 enlargement (see "Images"). The design of the ceiling was reckoned to be among Adam's richest and may have had paintings by Angelica Kauffmann. A fine painting of Northumberland House by Canaletto is now on display at the Duke of Northumberland's primary seat, Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. Northumberland House, with 370 rooms, was the largest London townhouse of the aristocracy.

Collections: Two George II Siena marble fireplaces from Northumberland House were sold by the Percy family at Christie's November 17, 1988 for £220,000 and £176,000. A bergere chair, one of a pair of two made by Morel & Hughes, London, circa 1823, for the Ante Room to the Crimson Drawing Room at Northumberland House, is today in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. The chair is based on an antique Greek design and was probably designed by Benjamin Dean Wyatt (photo in "Images" section). An inlaid scagliola chimneypiece and heart-slab formerly in the Glass Drawing Room at Northumberland House, designed by Robert Adam, 1774, and probably made by Bartoli and Richter, is now in the Green Drawing Room at Syon House (see "Images"). A pair of lacquered brass gas lights (122 inches tall) is today in the collection of the Bowes Museum, County Durham (purchased by the museum in 1960), with a matching set today at Syon House; both sets of lights were made for the first floor parade rooms of Northumberland House by William Collins in 1823.
Architect: Daniel Garrett

Date of Birth: ?
Date of Death: 1753
Nationality: British
Notes: A disciple and protégé of Lord Burlington.

Date: 1750s
Designed: Alterations for 7th Duke of Somerset

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Architect: James Paine Sr.

Date of Birth: 1717
Date of Death: 1789
Nationality: British
Notes: Paine's first major work was the building of Nostell Priory, which took seven years and made his name as an architect. Christopher Hussey stated that Paine had such a successful country house practice that "Robert Taylor and Paine divided the country house practice of Egnland between them."

Date: 1750s
Designed: Continued alterations for 7th Duke of Somerset after death of Garrett

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Architect: Edward Marshall

Date of Birth: Circa 1598
Date of Death: 1675
Nationality: English
Notes: Marshall was the master mason in Charles II's Office of Works.

Date: 1655-57
Designed: Great Stone Stairs to the Garden

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Architect: John Webb

Date of Birth: 1611
Date of Death: 1672
Nationality: English
Notes: John Webb was a noted 17th century architect and scholar and is considered Inigo Jones's most important student.

Date: 1657
Designed: Designs for Dining Room and Drawing Room chimneypieces

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Architect: Thomas Cundy, Jr.

Date of Birth: 1790
Date of Death: 1867
Nationality: British

Date: 1820
Designed: Rebuilt South (River) Façade

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Architect: Robert Mylne

Date of Birth: 1633
Date of Death: 1710
Nationality: Scottish

Date: 1760s
Designed: Refaced courtyard walls in stone

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Architect: Bernard Janssen

Date of Birth: ?
Date of Death: ?
Nationality: ?

Date: 1605
Designed: House, together with Christmas, for Earl of Northampton.

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Architect: Gerard Christmas

Date of Birth: ?
Date of Death: ?
Nationality: ?

Date: 1605
Designed: House, together with Jansen, for Earl of Northampton.

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Architect: Robert Adam

Date of Birth: 1728
Date of Death: 1792
Nationality: British
Notes: The prolific Robert Adam was the son of William Adam, Sr., and one of the four Adam brothers. Robert is noted for having "Never once built a great house from scratch," though he was the "it" architect of the 1760s and 70s, with an impressive and aristocratic client list a mile long. The Georgian House, Edinburgh, is considered by many to be Adam's urban masterpiece. Among his finest works are the Library of Kenwood House, London; Culzean Castle, Ayrshire; the Library of Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders; Syon House, London; and Newby Hall in Yorkshire.

Date: 1770-75
Designed: Interiors, including Glass Drawing Room and Ballroom, for 1st Duke of Northumberland.

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Architect: Roger Morris

Date of Birth: 1695
Date of Death: 1749
Nationality: English

Date: 1749
Designed: Picture Gallery

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Title: Sotheby's Auction Catalog: Chatsworth: The Attic Sale, Oct 5-7, 2010
Author: NA
Year Published: 2010
Reference: pg. 303
Publisher: London: Sotheby's
ISBN: NA
Book Type: Softback

Title: Bowes Museum Guidebook, The
Author: Conran, Elizabeth; Crossling, Bryan; Coutts, Howard; et al.
Year Published: 1992
Reference: pg. 75
Publisher: London: Scala Publications
ISBN: 1870248945
Book Type: Softback

Title: Great Houses of London, The
Author: Pearce, David
Year Published: 1986
Reference: pgs. 30-31
Publisher: New York: The Vendome Press
ISBN: 0865650632
Book Type: Hardback

Title: Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors, The
Author: Harris, Eileen
Year Published: 2001
Reference: pgs. 95, 101, 103
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press (London: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)
ISBN: 0300081294
Book Type: Hardback

Title: Syon Park Guidebook
Author: NA
Year Published: NA
Reference: pg. 34
Publisher: UK: Beric Tempest
ISBN: NA
Book Type: Light Softback

Title: British Galleries, 1500-1900, A Guide Book, The
Author: Winch, Dinah
Year Published: 2001
Publisher: London: Victoria & Albert Museum
ISBN: 1851773622
Book Type: Softback

Title: Lost London: A Century of Demolition and Decay
Author: Hobhouse, Hermione
Year Published: 1979
Publisher: London: Macmillan
ISBN: 333198263
Book Type: Softback

Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - SOFTBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 1995
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300072074
Book Type: Softback

Title: Disintegration of a Heritage: Country Houses and their Collections, 1979-1992, The
Author: Sayer, Michael
Year Published: 1993
Publisher: Norfolk: Michael Russell (Publishing)
ISBN: 0859551970
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Demolished

Park Listed: Destroyed
Past Seat / Home of: Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, 17th century. Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, 18th century. Hugh Percy (Smithson), 1st Duke of Northumberland and 18th Earl of Northumberland; Percy family here from 1642 until demolition in 1874.

Current Ownership Type: Demolished

Primary Current Ownership Use: Demolished
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No

Northumberland House

House, Family & Collections History

Architects

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