Kenwood House
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Image:RobertAdamLibraryKenwood1774 edited.jpg
Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead Heath in London. It is run by English Heritage.
The original house was early 17th century. The orangery was added in about 1700. In 1754 it was bought by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. He commissioned Robert Adam to remodel it from 1764-1779. Adam added the library (one of his most famous interiors) to balance the orangery, and added the Ionic portico at the entrance. In 1793-6 George Saunders added two wings on the north side, and the offices and kitchen buildings and brewery (now the restaurant) to the side.
It was donated to the nation by Lord Iveagh, a member of the Guinness family, when he died in 1927, and opened to the public in 1928. He had bought the house from the Mansfield family in 1925. Unfortunately the furnishing had already been sold by then, so the house is largely empty. Some furniture has since been added. The paintings are from Iveagh's collection. Part of the grounds were bought by the Kenwood Preservation Council in 1922, after there had been threats that it would be sold for building. In the late 1990s the house received approximately 150,000 visitors a year and an estimated 1 million people visited the grounds each year. <ref>Kenwood: Information for Tutors and Students of Tourism Studies, English Heritage booklet 2002 revision, page 5.</ref>
The film Notting Hill was partly filmed here.
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[edit] Paintings
Paintings of note include
- 'The Guitar Player' by Johannes Vermeer
- a late Rembrandt self portrait
- Thomas Gainsborough, 'Portrait of Countess Howe' (see Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe)
- Edwin Henry Landseer, 'Hunting in the Olden Times'
Other painters include
- Joshua Reynolds
- Angelica Kauffmann
- John Crome
- George Morland
- Van Dyck
- William Larkin
- J. M. W. Turner
- Arthur Boyd Houghton
- Frans Hals
- Francois Boucher
There is also a collection of shoe buckles, jewellery and Portrait miniatures.
[edit] Gardens
Image:Barbara Hepworth monolyth empyrean.jpg There are fine landscaped gardens around the house, originally designed by Humphry Repton, contrasting to the more wild Hampstead Heath that surrounds the area. There is also a new garden by Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
One third of the area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the ancient woodlands. These are home to many birds and insects and the largest Pipistrelle bat roost in London.
There is a Barbara Hepworth, a Henry Moore and a Reg Butler sculpture in the gardens near the house.
Classical music concerts by the lake are held in the summer and attract thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the music, scenery and spectacular fireworks. The concerts have been running for 55 years.
[edit] External links
- Kenwood Concerts - information on artists and tickets
- English Heritage website for the house
- Kenwood Park - information on garden history
- English Heritage website for the gardens
- English Heritage - information for tutors and students of tourism studies
[edit] References
<references/>
- The Buildings of England London 4: North. Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner. ISBN 0-300-09653-4.
- Kenwood: The Iveagh Bequest. Julius Bryant. (English Heritage publication).
