Admiral's House | |
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![]() Admiral's House in 2016 | |
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Former names |
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General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | House |
Classification | Grade II |
Location | Hampstead, London Borough of Camden |
Town or city | London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°33′35″N0°10′48″W / 51.5597°N 0.1801°W |
Construction started | 1700 |
Technical details | |
Material | Stone brick |
Admiral's House (originally known as Golden Spikes and later as The Grove) [1] is a Grade II listed house in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. The house's name is a misnomer, as no admirals have ever lived there. [2] The house is featured in multiple paintings by John Constable. [3]
The house was built in 1700 by Charles Keys. [1] The house was used as a masonic lodge between 1730 and 1745, which may have been why Keys named it Golden Spikes. [1] It appeared on John Rocque's Map of London, 1746. [4] Naval captain Fountain North owned the house between c. 1775 to 1811. [1] He renamed it The Grove [1] and added a quarterdeck to the roof of the house. [1] [5] [6] He also added bulwarks and portholes to the property, and in 1805, bought the nearby grove and demolished it to extend the house's garden. [1] In the late 18th century, the house was mistaken as belonging to Admiral Barton. [1] [7] : 8 The problem arose because a print of The Grove was incorrectly entitled Admiral Barton’s Hampstead. [4] A possible explanation for the confusion was that Barton, who lived in Hampstead, fired cannon from his roof, and so it was assumed they were from the quarterdeck of The Grove. [1] [7] : 8 As a result, the house became known as Admiral's House, [1] [6] though no admiral has ever lived in the house. [7] : 8 [8] Admiral’s Walk, the road on which the house is situated, is similarly misnamed. [7] : 8 [6]
In the 19th century, John Constable painted Admiral's House a number of times. [1] [5] One painting, The Grove, or Admiral's House, Hampstead, was bought by Hugo von Tschudi for the Berlin Alte Nationalgalerie, [9] was later on display at the Tate Britain, [10] and is now in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. [6] [11] The painting is believed to be the view of Admiral's House from Constable's nearby house. [11] Another painting, The Romantic House at Hampstead has been in the collections of the National Gallery. [12] George Gilbert Scott lived in the house between 1856 and 1865, [7] : 375 although he decided that Hampstead was too cold for him. [5] In 1910, London County Council commissioned a blue plaque for Scott on Admiral's House. [6] [13]
From 1917 to 1926, [4] John and Winifred Fortescue lived at Admiral's House. [6] During his time in the house, John Fortescue wrote his multi-volume book Fortescue's History of the British Army. [12] The couple moved from Admiral's House to Windsor Castle. [12] In 1941, Norman Thomas Janes produced a watercolour painting of Admiral's House that is located in the V&A Museum collections. [14] Admiral's House is believed to have been an inspiration for P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books. [15] Travers' character Admiral Boom likes to fire cannons, as did Admiral Barton, who at the time was believed to have lived at the house. [5] [6] Scenes from the 1964 Mary Poppins film adaptation were filmed at Admiral's House. [16] which was used as Admiral Boom's house in the film. [17]
In 1950, the house was listed as a Grade II listed building. [4] In the 1960s and 1970s, the gardens of Admiral's House and the next door Grove Lodge were opened to the public on selected dates as part of the National Gardens Scheme. [18] [19] In 1976, the brick and Portland stone boundary wall to the house was Grade II listed, in a separate listing from the main house, and including neighbouring properties. [20] In the late 20th century, windows were added to the roof, and the kitchen was extended. These changes were not included in the Grade II listing of the house. [4] Since the 1980s, Admiral's House has been owned by John Gardiner KC. [16]
In the 20th century, a wing of Admiral's House was converted into a separate house, named Grove House. [21] John Galsworthy lived at Grove House from 1918 to 1933. [16] In 2015, the owners of Grove House wanted to knock down part of the house to build an extension and 13 room basement. [16] In the 1920s, parts of the gardens of Admiral House's were sold as land for two additional houses. [4] Between 1931 and 1932, Edward Maufe built a studio next to the house. [1]