Heathcote, Ilkley

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Heathcote's garden front, viewed from the south Heathcote - viewed from Grove Road - geograph.org.uk - 1196419.jpg
Heathcote's garden front, viewed from the south

Heathcote is a Neoclassical-style villa in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architect Edwin Lutyens, it was his first comprehensive use of that style, [1] making it the precursor of his later public buildings in Edwardian Baroque style and those of New Delhi. [2] It was completed in 1908.

Contents

In December 2014 English Heritage designated it a Grade I listed building, raising it from the Grade II* designation that it received in 1979. [3] In its new listing for Heathcote, English Heritage called it a "pivotal" building in Lutyens's career, and "an imaginative and inventive essay in Mannerism". [4] The gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. [5]

House

The north, entrance front Heathcote - geograph.org.uk - 378865.jpg
The north, entrance front

In 1906, [2] Lutyens was commissioned by John Thomas Hemingway (1857–1926), a wealthy self-made Bradford wool merchant, and his wife Emma Jane, to replace their existing villa, which was at the lower, southern end of a sloping site, [6] 4 acres (1.6 ha) in extent. [7] Lutyens was given a free rein in the design. He built the new villa at the top of the site, in a size and style intended to dominate the neighbouring villas. [6] Lutyens had already mixed elements of classical architecture into his earlier, vernacular and Neo-Georgian designs, and his correspondence with Herbert Baker displayed a growing enthusiasm for classical architecture. [2] Later, he acknowledged a stylistic debt at Heathcote to the 16th-century Italian architect Michele Sanmicheli. Lutyens has been criticised for using a grand style more suited to a public building than to the Hemingways' dwelling. [6] Lutyens came to call his new style "Wrennaissance", after Christopher Wren. [8]

The southeast pool, from Weaver (1913) Heathcote SE Pool Lutyens Houses and Gardens 1913 Page230.jpg
The southeast pool, from Weaver (1913)

The house is built of local ashlar: yellow Guiseley stone decorated with grey stone from Morley, [10] with rustication on the ground floor and on the tall chimneys. The main features of the house and gardens are symmetrical around a north-south axis. [2] English Heritage have identified a compositional influence from the 17th-century French architect François Mansart. [4] The house has a three-storey central block, set back between two flanking two-storey pavilions to east and west, each with an additional one-storey outer wing. Each of these five components has a hip roof, [4] made of red pantiles. [10]

Entry is from King's Road, via a walled entrance court, to a door in the centre of the north elevation. The central hall leads out to a terrace garden giving a view southwards towards Ilkley Moor. [7] The south, garden elevation is more elaborate than the north, with wrought-iron balconies, additional setbacks in the central bay, and Doric pilasters on the flanking pavilions. [2] English Heritage have called the south elevation a "witty reinterpretation" of Michele Sanmicheli's Porta Palio in Verona. [4]

The hall Heathcote the Hall Lutyens Houses and Gardens 1913 Page233.jpg
The hall

For the interior design, Lutyens continued the classical theme. [2] The vestibule floor was white marble. [11] The hall had green Siberian marble columns, a black marble staircase and a vivid green carpet. Blue was used for some other surfaces, and for the Lutyens-designed furniture. [12] He also designed star-shaped light fittings. [2] Other interior features designed by Lutyens which remain intact include the fireplaces, cabinets and cupboards. [4]

Emma Jane Hemingway died in the house in 1937. [6] The company NG Bailey used the building as offices from 1958 to 2011. After a planning application to split it into two apartments was unsuccessful, it was converted back into an eight-bedroom house in 2012. [13]

Gardens

The south terrace Heathcote South Terrace Lutyens Houses and Gardens 1913 Page227.jpg
The south terrace

The gardens were laid out by Lutyens, [5] with pools and parterres, and retaining walls for the terracing, including that of the central lawn. [7] The Grade I listing of 12 December 2014 combined numerous garden and courtyard features that were individually Grade II* listed, as well as some outbuildings and a pair of cottages fronting onto King's Road. [4]

The planting of the gardens was by garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. [14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Gradidge (1981), p. 44.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gradidge (1981), pp. 63–68
  3. ↑ "Historic home receives upgrade in grade status". Ilkley Gazette. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic England. "Heathcote (1133518)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 Historic England. "Heathcote, Ilkley (park and garden) (1001219)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Brown (1996), pp. 133–136
  7. 1 2 3 Brown (1982), pp. 108–109.
  8. ↑ Wilhide (2012), p. 32.
  9. 1 2 3 Weaver, Lawrence (1913). Houses and Gardens by E.L. Lutyens. London: Country Life. pp. 183–196. OCLC   1111173438.
  10. 1 2 Amery (1981), pp. 108–109.
  11. ↑ Wilhide (2012), p. 82.
  12. ↑ Wilhide (2012), p. 136.
  13. ↑ Greaves, Amanda (24 January 2013). "Call to safeguard Ilkley's Heathcote mansion after sale". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Brown (1982), p. 186.

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References

Coordinates: 53°55′28″N1°50′11″W / 53.92444°N 1.83639°W / 53.92444; -1.83639

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