Houghton Hall and Gardens
Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, inherited the 17,000-acre property of houses and gardens, in 1700. Initially Walpole thought to upgrade the house, but in 1722, after having
the land surveyed, he chose instead to commission Thomas Ripley to design and build a grander house in the popular Palladian style in vogue at the time.
Houghton Hall is grand house defined by its Greek Revival elegance and architectural details. Equally grand are the myriad rooms that define the house and its activities.
There is the Arcade, the Great Staircase, the Stone Hall, the Saloon, the White Drawing Room, the Green Velvet Bedchamber, the Tapestry Dressing Room, the Embroidered Bed Chamber, the Cabinet Room, the Marble Parlour, the Common Parlour, and the Library. In each case, only the finest materials were used, and it is said Walpole himself placed the cost of building the house at more than £200,000..
Houghton Hall’s current resident owner is David Cholmondeley, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, who has spent the last 25 years
restoring the house and the 18th-century formal gardens. Today, Houghton Hall and its gardens
are part of the National Trust of Historic
Properties – the biggest conservation charity in Europe, caring for more than 250,000 hectares of farmland, more than 780 miles of coastline, and more than 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves.
Antony Gormley
It is within and against this Houghton Hall and its history that Gormley chose to create his work.
Antony Gormley is a highly regarded British sculptor, who won the Turner Prize in 1994 and was knighted in 2014. Gormley’s career started with a solo exhibition at London’s Whitechapel
Gallery in 1981. He is known for his life-sized iron casts of seemingly identical male forms set about in various landscapes. Notable works located in England include: the “Angel of the North” – in Gateshead, overlooking the varied topography of the Tyne and Wear Lowlands Character Area – is considered one of the most viewed work of art in the world (it is seen by an estimated 33 million people every year);
"Another Place” on Crosby Beach near Liverpool; and “Event Horizon, “which was a multipart site installation that has been shown in London, New York City, São Paulo, and Hong Kong.
Gormley will be exhibiting his cast forms in Bejing and Prague from Fall of 2024 through early 2025.
Houghton Hall’s current resident owner is David Cholmondeley, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, who has spent the last 25 years restoring the house and the 18th-century formal gardens.
Opposite:
Houghton Hall
Garden
Photo
Courtesy of:
WW
9