Date of Birth: 1573
Date of Death: 1652
Nationality: English
Notes: One of the most important British architects of the last three centuries, Jones was the first significant British architect of the early modern period and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. Most famous for introducing the classical Palladian style of architecture into England during the reign of James I (Jones was entranced by Palladio and bought a large number of his drawings), Jones began his career in the theater, where was responsible for staging over 500 performances. He frequently collaborated with Ben Jonson and is credited with introducing movable scenery and the proscenium arch to English theater. He also achieved fame in his pre-architecture life a designer of lavish masques for the Court, for which he is still remembered today. Jones was born in London of Welsh parents (his father was a cloth worker) and trained as a carpenter. Undeniably a man of genius, he was probably the greatest British architect of the 17th century (he was described by a contemporary as "our Kingdome's most Artfull and Ingenious Architect"). Jones was Surveyor-General of the King's Works from 1615 until the beginning of the Civil War in 1642, during which he worked continuously on the royal residences. When the Civil War erupted Jones found himself in a compromising position; he was identified with the Court, most specifically with the Catholic Queen, Henrietta Maria, for whom he performed much work. In the new world dominated by Oliver Cromwell, this was seen as unpatriotic or treasonous; the Parliamentarians seized his property and fined him heavily. He never recovered from the Civil War and, in 1652, he died at Somerset House, a broken and poverty-stricken man.

Date of Birth: ?
Date of Death: Jun 1665
Nationality: French
Notes: Mollet was a French garden designer, the son of Claude Mollet—gardener to three French kings—and the grandson of Jacques Mollet, gardener at the Château d'Anet, where the Italian formal garden was introduced to France.

Date of Birth: 1676
Date of Death: 1729
Nationality: Scottish
Notes: A descendent of the Campbells of Cawdor Castle, Colen Campbell was a Scottish lawyer and arguably the first proponent of Neo-Palladianism in Britain and the father of the Georgian style (he wrote "Vitruvius Britannicus" in 1715). He signed his name as Colinus Campbell in the visitor's book at the University of Padua in 1697 and is believed to have trained in and studied architecture under James Smith. William Benson and Colen Campbell are believed to have conceived a plan to pull down the former Houses of Parliament so that they could design a Palladian style building.