The entrance facade
The stables
Built / Designed For: William Lowndes, Secretary to the Treasury
House & Family History: Winslow is a red brick and stone house of seven bays with two main floors, a high basement, and a half-story attic with a hipped roof. The materials used in the construction of the house are all of the highest quality (several craftsmen came from the King's Office of Works). The entrance facade has a three-bay center with a large pediment that contains a bulls-eye window. Winslow is attributed to Sir Christopher Wren and is believed to be his only surviving house (if he didn't actually design the house, Wren likely oversaw its design). In 1948 Geoffrey Houghton Brown rescued Winslow Hall when he paid £13,000 to purchase the house from a demolition contractor.
Garden & Outbuildings: The garden was designed by London & Wise, the king's gardeners. The stables and coach house were laid out to the east of the house. Winslow Hall is flanked by matching pavilions; the east pavilion (which originally housed the brewhouse and the laundry) was converted into the billiard room, then the chapel, and finally the Roman Catholic church, which is linked to the house by a single-story hall that was built in 1901.
Architect: Christopher Wren
Date: 1699-1702Country Life: CX, 572, 1951.
Title: Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, The
Author: Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth
Year Published: 1994
Reference: pgs. 754, 756-757
Publisher: London: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0140710620
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Work of Christopher Wren, The
Author: Beard, Geoffrey
Year Published: 1987
Publisher: London: Bloomsbury Books
ISBN: 0906223792
Book Type: Hardback
Title: No Voice From the Hall: Early Memories of a Country House Snooper
Author: Harris, John
Year Published: 1998
Publisher: London: John Murray
ISBN: 0719555671
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade I
Park Listed: Not Listed
Current Seat / Home of: The Hon. Christopher and Mardi Gilmour; here since 2010.
Past Seat / Home of: William Lowndes, 17th century. Geoffrey Houghton Brown, 20th century. Sir Edward Emile Tomkins, 20th century.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: No
Phone: 01296-712-323
Historic Houses Member: No