A Fashionable Transformation

The brick mansion of the late 17th century was radically remodelled in 1804–09 in a fashionable neoclassical style.

View of the house and conservatory © English Heritage The impulse for the transformation came from the young owner Henry Drummond (1786–1860), whose grandfather, a successful banker, had purchased the house from the Henley family. Rich and impulsive, he wanted to transform his family's house in the latest architectural style, emulating the classical design of Greek buildings.

Phased plan of site © English Heritage In 1808, Drummond commissioned his friend William Wilkins (1778–1839), a promising young architect and antiquary, to redesign his house. Wilkins had been much influenced by his recent travels to Greece and Asia Minor. He modelled the magnificent temple front of the house on a temple in Athens known as the Theseion, and adapted another monument, the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllus, for the side elevation.

He clad the house in Roman cement, a very hard render made from ground flint. The overall design is based on the severe and undecorated Doric architectural order. Cockerell, who designed the conservatory 15 years later for the Baring family, chose the more intricate Ionic order.