Osterley Park - My World Tuesday

The approach to Osterley Park

Osterley is an area of West London, the name of my nearest tube station (subway stop) and the name of a grand period house dating from 1572, though it was extensively remodelled by new owners in 1763. 

The stairs up to the entrance

As regulars will know, Fabulous Other Half (FOH) and I do enjoy nothing more than an outing to a National Trust property for a little historic enlightenment and a nose at how the well to do of yesteryear lived. This Sunday past was slightly different. We started off the day with a slap-up breakfast at our local diner and then  instead of a drive into the countryside it was a leisurely stroll because Osterley Park is local, a mere 5 blocks!

The view of the house from the grounds

Osterley Park is a mansion set in a large park of the same name. It is in the western suburbs of London. When the house was built it was surrounded by rural countryside. It was one of a group of large houses close to London which served as country retreats for wealthy families.

The floating staircase

 The original building on this site was a manor house built for banker Sir Thomas Gresham in the 1570s. It is known that Queen Elizabeth visited twice, on one occasion suggesting that a hedge would be a good idea in a certain location, that was then built overnight! The stable block from this period remains at Osterley Park. Gresham was so wealthy he also went on and bought the neighbouring Manor of Boston in 1572. His widowed stepdaughter-in-law built the present Jacobean manor house there which still stands to this day.

The Grand Hall

Two hundred years later the manor house was falling into disrepair, when, as the result of a mortgage default, it came into the ownership of Sir Francis Child, the head of Child's Bank. In 1761 he employed Robert Adam, who was just emerging as one of the most fashionable architects in England, to remodel the house. When Sir Francis died in 1763, the project was taken up by his brother and heir Robert Child, for whom the interiors were created.

Another view of the Grand Hall

The house is of red brick with white stone details and is approximately square, with turrets in the four corners. Adam's design, which incorporates some of the earlier structure, is highly unusual, and differs greatly in style from the original construction. One side is left almost open and is spanned by an Ionic pedimented screen which is approached by a broad flight of steps and leads to a central courtyard, which is at piano nobile level.

Adam's neoclassical interiors are among his most notable sequences of rooms. Horace Walpole sarcastically described the drawing room as "worthy of Eve before the fall." The rooms are characterised by elaborate but restrained plasterwork, rich, highly varied colour schemes, and a degree of coordination between decor and furnishings unusual in English neoclassical interiors. 

One of the matching alcoves in the entrance hall

Notable rooms include the entrance hall, which has large semi-circular alcoves at each end, and the Etruscan dressing room, which Adam said was inspired by the Etruscan vases in Sir William Hamilton's collection, illustrations of which had recently been published. Adam also designed some of the furniture, including the opulent domed state bed, still in the house.

Wikipedia article continues here.

Another view of the Entrance Hall

It was a great day out with much to see. I hope you enjoy some of the 240 pics I took. I'll post more shots of the house and of the grounds soon, so be sure to make a return visit.

We'll be going back again. Well why not, it's just a short walk away.

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