- Pythouse
Pythouse (pronounced pit-house) is a country house near Tisbury in
Wiltshire ,England .Pythouse was built circa 1725, and was rebuilt in 1805 by John Benett (1773-1852), the then-owner and amateur architect, who "Palladianised" the house. Rear service wings were added in 1891.
Described as a "fine classical house" [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=321084&mode=quick] , Pythouse is set in parkland with a
ha-ha . With itsIonic portico, the front is very similar to and probably inspired the front of the nearbyPhilipps House in Dinton, which was begun a little later in 1813 and designed by Sir Jeffry Wyatville.The house remained in the Benett family until the mid 1950s, when death duties forced its sale. The house was then owned and used for 46 years by the
Country Houses Association , a charity which ran the house as a retirement home. [http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2003/12/18/129892.html] The house (together with 95 acres of estate) was sold again in 2004 for £7 million and is once more a residential home. [http://www.pythouse-organics.co.uk/history.asp] [http://www.sandshomesearch.com/propertyforsale/westcountry.htm]Bibliography
*Eyre, John, "Pythouse and the Benetts" Country Houses Association (Banbury, England)
*Nikolaus Pevsner , 1975, "Wiltshire" in "The Buildings of England" series. Penguin
*John Martin Robinson, 2005, "Pythouse, Wiltshire" "Country Life" 199:1, 36-41References
External links
* [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=321084&mode=quick Images of England page on the house, with architectural details]
* [http://www.pythouse-organics.co.uk/history.asp History of the house on Pythouse Organics website]
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CSyaO-MqYoAC&pg=PA119&dq=pythouse&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2XNz4SLURWGd4omPNoeJa_SM9FRA A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 Howard Colvin, 2008 edition, entry on John Benett]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/682287 Geograph entry]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/8396966@N04/2368756138/ Photos on Flickr]
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