Houghton Hall

Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the "de facto" first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole and is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England. The architects were Colen Campbell, who began the building, James Gibbs, who added the domes, and William Kent, who designed the interiors. The house has a rectangular main block which consists of a rustic basement at ground level, with a "piano nobile", bedroom floor and attics above. There are also two lower flanking wings joined to the main block by colonnades. The exterior is grand but restrained, built of fine silver stone, and has domes at each corner. In line with the usual Palladian preference, the interiors are much more colourful and opulent than the exterior.

Houghton once contained part of Sir Robert Walpole's great picture collection, which his descendants sold to Catherine the Great of Russia to pay off some of the family debts. It now belongs to the Marquess of Cholmondeley, and is open to the public.

Directions

Houghton Hall is in West Norfolk, just north of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. A brown tourist signpost on the left points out the road to the Hall at the village of Harpley.

References

*Moore, Andrew Editor (1996). "Houghton Hall: The Prime Minster, The Empress and The Heritage" London, Philip Wilson

ee also

*Houghton House - a ruined manor house in Bedfordshire.
*Houghton Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire - a stately home in Yorkshire.

External links

* [http://www.houghtonhall.com/htmlfiles/index.htm Official website.]
* [http://www.dicamillocompanion.com/Houses_hgpm.asp?ID=3025 Houghton Hall entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses]