Chiswick House
This elegant classical mansion on the outskirts of London was designed by the third Earl of Burlington. Inspired by his grand tours of Italy in the early 1700s, the Earl wanted a sumptuous palace and gardens based on the villas of ancient Rome.
Burlington was a wealthy patron of the arts; among those he supported are writers, Pope and Swift, the composer Handel and artists Kent, Leoni and Rysbrack. Rather than being a residence, Chiswick House was designed to be a temple of the arts, where Burlington could entertain guests and house his collection of artworks.
Among such luminaries that were entertained at Chiswick House are American Presidents Adams and Jefferson; the latter based his own Palladian mansion at Monticello on Chiswick. The house also entertained the Tsar of Russia and King Edward VII.
For the interiors, Burlington employed the eminent interior designer William Kent and those fabulous interiors have been restored to their original glory. The bedrooms have been decorated with family paintings of the Burlington family, including portraits by William Aikman. Other paintings adoring the sumptuous Red and Green Velvet Rooms include works from Old Masters.
The height from the top of the dome to the floor of the Upper Tribunal is around 50 ft, leaving 20 ft
from the floor of the Upper Tribunal to the floor of the cellar. This would give a total height of 70 ft- making the whole structure a perfect cube with its 70 feet width and breadth.
Complementing Chiswick House perfectly are the Italianate gardens outside, with fabulous classical statues and buildings tucked away among trees and shrubs
