Holland House and the Dutch Garden,  London,  January 2017

Holland House, in London’s Kensington, was built in 1605 for the diplomat Sir Walter Cope and was known as Cope Castle.

It passed to Cope’s son in law, Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland who changed the name to Holland House and instigated the extension of the property.  In 1649, Rich was  beheaded for his Royalist activities during the Civil War and the house became army headquarters and regularly played host to Oliver Cromwell. It was reported that Lord Holland’s ghost haunted the house, carrying his head under his arm.

In the nineteenth century, under the ownership of 3rd Baron Holland, the house became noted as a social, literary and political centre with celebrated visitors including Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott.

Sadly, the house was largely destroyed by German firebombing during the Blitz.  On the night of 27 September 1940, it was hit by twenty-two incendiary bombs during a ten-hour raid. The house was largely destroyed, with only one wing and most of the library remaining undamaged.  Today, only the east wing and some ruins of the ground floor still remain.

Dutch Garden and Holland House photographed by Sir Benjamin Stone in 1907 – use of image courtesy of V&A Museum

Hex colour reference:  #ffbd88

A colourful note: This very light orange colour became an unusually named Crayola crayon in 1993.  One of the 16 winners of the 1993 naming competition created a lively impression with their Macaroni and Cheese title.  The six year old winner, Adrienne Watral from Colorado, simply named it after her favourite food.

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 25 January 2017

Part of Traces of the Past and Color Your World