Editing Chiswick House (section)

==History==

===Early history (c. 1610–1682)===

The original Chiswick House was a [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] house owned by Sir [[Edward Wardour]], and possibly built by his father.<ref name=Parliament/> It is dated {{Circa|1610}} in a late 17th-century engraving of the Chiswick House estate by [[Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff]],<ref name=CurrentArchaeology>{{cite journal |date=1 September 2008 |title=Chiswick House |journal=[[Current Archaeology]] |issue=222 |url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/chiswick-house.htm}}</ref> and was constructed with four sides around an open courtyard.<ref name=CurrentArchaeology/> Wardour sold the house in 1624 to [[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset]].<ref name=Parliament>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/wardour-sir-edward-1578-1646 |title=Wardour, Sir Edward (1578–1646), of Chiswick House, Chiswick, Mdx. and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster |last=Lancaster |first=Henry |date=2010 |work=The History of Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brayley |first1=Edward Wedlake |last2=Brewer |first2=James Norris |last3=Nightingale |first3=Joseph  |title=London and Middlesex |publisher=Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe |date=1816 |volume=4 |pages=315 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3flHAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA316}}</ref> The house was quite large: in the [[Hearth tax#Stuart period|1664 Hearth Tax]] documents it is recorded as having 33 fireplaces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/publications/the-journal/journal-6-1997/the-estates-around-chiswick-house/ |title=The Estates Around Chiswick House |publisher=Brentford and Chiswick Local History Society |date=1997}}</ref> The house was at the south end of the Royalist line in the [[Battle of Turnham Green]] (1641), during the [[First English Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Battle of Turnham Green |url=http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conhistory07.htm |publisher=Chiswick W4 |date=19 November 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204630/http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conhistory07.htm |archive-date=16 February 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The house was purchased by [[Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan]] in 1682.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allinson |first=Kenneth |title=Architects and Architecture of London |page=84 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |date=2013 |isbn=978-1136429651 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eZ8lWiARzUC&pg=PA84 }}</ref>

===Boyle family (1682–1758)===
[[File:Chiswick House.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Plan of Chiswick House]]

The Jacobean house was used by the Boyle family as a summer retreat from their central London home, [[Burlington House]].<ref name="(LondonEngland)1986"/><ref name="BryantHeritage1993">{{cite book |last1=Bryant |first1=Julius|author2=English Heritage |title=London's country house collections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IJkzAQAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Scala Publications in association with English Heritage |page=32|isbn=9781857590135}}</ref> After a fire in 1725, [[Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington]] (Lord Burlington), then head of the family,<ref name="(LondonEngland)1986">{{cite book |author1=Furniture History Society |author-link=Furniture History Society |title=Furniture history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhuxAAAAIAAJ|year=1986|page=84}}</ref> decided to build a new "villa" to the west of the old Chiswick House.

During his trip to Italy in 1719, Burlington had acquired a passion for Palladian architecture.<ref name="Rogers2004">{{cite book |last=Rogers |first=Pat |title=The Alexander Pope encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udRlsDhfhoUC&pg=PA61 |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32426-0 |page=61}}</ref><ref name="Baird2007">{{cite book |last=Baird |first=Rosemary |title=Goodwood: Art and Architecture, Sport and Family |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TkOIfaghEgC&pg=PA19 |date=15 August 2007 |publisher=Frances Lincoln Ltd |isbn=978-0-7112-2769-9 |page=19}}</ref> He had not closely inspected [[Roman architecture|Roman ruins]] or made detailed drawings on the sites in Italy; he relied on [[Palladio]] and [[Vincenzo Scamozzi|Scamozzi]] as his interpreters of the classic tradition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beltramini |first1=Guido |last2=Vicenza |first2=Centro internazionale di studi di architettura "Andrea Palladio" di |title=Palladio and Northern Europe: books, travellers, architects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSdQAAAAMAAJ | date=15 October 1999 |publisher=Skira |isbn=978-88-8118-524-5}}</ref> Another source of his inspiration were drawings he collected, including those of Palladio himself, which had belonged to [[Inigo Jones]] and his pupil [[John Webb (architect)|John Webb]]. According to [[Howard Colvin]], "Burlington's mission was to reinstate in Augustan England the canons of Roman architecture as described by [[Vitruvius]], exemplified by its surviving remains, and practised by Palladio, [[Vincenzo Scamozzi|Scamozzi]] and Jones."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beltramini |first1=Guido |last2=Burns |first2=Howard |title=Palladio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4rrAAAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts |isbn=978-1-905711-24-6}}</ref>

Burlington, himself a talented amateur architect and (in the words of [[Horace Walpole]]) "Apollo of the Arts",<ref name="GalleryWilton-Ely1973">{{cite book |last=Wilton-Ely |first=John |title=Apollo of the arts: Lord Burlington and his circle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHDsAAAAMAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=Nottingham University Art Gallery |page=31}}</ref> designed the villa with the aid of [[William Kent]], who also took a leading role in designing the gardens.{{sfn|Groves|Mawrey|2010|p=68}} Burlington built the villa with enough space to house his art collection, regarded as containing "some of the best pictures in Europe",<ref>{{cite book |author=Bryan, Julius |title=London's Country House Collections. Kenwood, Chiswick, Marble Hill, Ranger's House |publisher=Scala Publications for English Heritage |location=London |year=1993 |page=36}}</ref> and his more select pieces of furniture, some of which was purchased on his first [[Grand Tour]] of Europe in 1714. Construction of the villa took place between 1726 and 1729.<ref>{{cite web |last=Randhawa |first=Kiran |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23428558-chiswick-house-set-for-12m-facelift.do |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505072546/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23428558-chiswick-house-set-for-12m-facelift.do |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |title=Chiswick House set for £12m facelift |work=Evening Standard |location=London |date=19 December 2007}}</ref>

After Burlington's death in 1753,<ref name="Ormrod2000">{{cite book |last=Ormrod |first=W. M. |title=The lord lieutenants and high sheriffs of Yorkshire, 1066–2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkSAAAAAIAAJ |date=July 2000 |publisher=Wharncliffe Books |page=29|isbn=9781871647747 }}</ref> his wife, [[Dorothy Savile, Countess of Burlington and Countess of Cork|Lady Dorothy Savile]], and daughter, [[Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington|Charlotte]], who had married [[William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire]] in 1748,<ref name="Thomson1981">{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=George Malcolm |title=The prime ministers, from Robert Walpole to Margaret Thatcher |url=https://archive.org/details/primeministersfr0000thom |url-access=registration |date=April 1981 |publisher=Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-00432-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/primeministersfr0000thom/page/24 24]}}</ref> inherited the house.  Charlotte died in December 1754,<ref name="Society1903">{{cite book |title=Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2IvAAAAMAAJ|year=1903|publisher=Derbyshire Archaeological Society |page=130}}</ref> and Lady Burlington died in September 1758.<ref name="Corp1998">{{cite book |last=Corp |first=Edward T.|title=Lord Burlington: the man and his politics : questions of loyalty |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGswAQAAIAAJ|year=1998 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-8367-5}}</ref> Several views of Burlington's house were made by the architect-draughtsman [[John Donowell]] around this time.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Symes |first=Michael |title=John Donowell's Views of Chiswick and other Gardens |journal=Journal of Garden History |issue=7 |date=1987 |volume=7 |pages=43–57|doi=10.1080/01445170.1987.10412457 }} See the article on [[John Donowell]] for a selection of the views.</ref>

===Cavendish family (1758–1929)===
[[File:Giraffes in Chiswick Park ILN 15 June 1844.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|The 6th Duke of Devonshire's garden party for Tsar Nicholas of Russia and 700 guests, with giraffes in the park, from ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', 15 June 1844]]

After the death of Lady Burlington in 1758, the villa and gardens passed to the Cavendish family. William Cavendish died in 1764, leaving the property to his son William, the 5th [[Duke of Devonshire]]. In 1774, William married Lady [[Georgiana Spencer]], the Duchess of Devonshire,<ref name="Lodge1867">{{cite book |last=Lodge |first=Edmund |title=The peerage and baronetage of the British Empire as at present existing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RCoEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179 |year=1867 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett |page=179}}</ref> who enjoyed spending time at Chiswick which she referred to as her "earthly paradise".<ref name="Gross2004">{{cite book |last=Gross |first=Jonathan David |title=Emma, or, The unfortunate attachment: a sentimental novel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9itOPHgUIUC&pg=PR11 |date=July 2004 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-6146-4 |page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Foreman |first=Amanda |title=Georgiana's World. The Illustrated Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=2001 |page=182}}</ref> She regularly invited members of the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig party]] to the house for tea parties in the garden.<ref name="Libraries2000">{{cite book |title=Choice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wkoAQAAIAAJ |year=2000 |publisher=American Library Association |page= |isbn= }}</ref><ref name="Jullian1967">{{cite book |last=Jullian |first=Philippe |title=Edward and the Edwardians |url=https://archive.org/details/edwardedwardians00jull |url-access=registration |year=1967 |publisher=Viking Press}}</ref> In 1788 the Cavendish family demolished the Jacobean house and hired architect John White to add two wings to the villa to increase the amount of accommodation.<ref name="HibbertWeinreb2008">{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |last2=Weinreb |first2=Ben |title=The London Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN_H-__MBpYC&pg=PA165 |date=8 August 2008 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4050-4924-5 |page=165}}</ref> The Duchess was responsible for the building of the Classical Bridge in 1774, designed by the architect [[James Wyatt]],<ref name="HibbertWeinreb2008"/> and the planting of roses on the walls of the new wings and the sides of the buildings. She died in 1806.

In 1813, a {{convert|300|ft|m}} conservatory was built by [[Samuel Ware]], with the purpose of housing exotic fruits and camellias.{{sfn|Groves|Mawrey|2010|p=78}} > Gardener Lewis Kennedy built an Italian inspired geometric garden around the conservatory. In 1827, after a rapid decline in health, Tory Prime Minister [[George Canning]] died in the same room where Charles James Fox had died in 1806.<ref name="England1840">{{cite book |author=England |title=The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales. 4 volumes bound in 12 parts with supplements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA442 |year=1840 |page=442}}</ref>

[[File:Floor paln of Chiswick House with additional wings.jpg|thumb|Floor plan, showing the wings used for the patients of [[Chiswick Asylum]], now removed]]

Between 1862 and 1892 the villa was rented by the Cavendish family to a number of successive tenants, including the [[Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland|Duchess of Sutherland]] in 1867,<ref name="CockburnKing1995">{{cite book |last1=Cockburn |first1=J. S. |last2=King |first2=H. P. F. |last3=McDonnell |first3=K. G. T. |others=University of London. Institute of Historical Research |title=A History of the county of Middlesex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP3uAAAAMAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] for the Institute of Historical Research |page=75 |isbn=978-0197227565 }}</ref> the Prince of Wales in the 1870s,<ref name="Country life">{{cite book |title=Country Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynZMAAAAYAAJ |year=1979 |publisher=[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]}}</ref> and [[John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute]], patron of the architect [[William Burges]], from 1881 to 1892.{{sfn|Hewlings|1989|pp=52–53}}

===Chiswick Asylum (1892–1928)===

From 1892, the 9th Duke of Devonshire rented the villa to Doctors Thomas Seymour and Charles Molesworth Tuke (sons of [[Thomas Harrington Tuke]]), and it was used by them as a mental hospital, the [[Chiswick Asylum]], for wealthy male and female patients until 1928.<ref name="WeinrebHibbert1983">{{cite book |last1=Weinreb |first1=Ben |last2=Hibbert |first2=Christopher |title=The London Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IJnAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=MacMillan |isbn=978-0-333-32556-8|page=154}}</ref> The asylum was praised for its relatively compassionate approach to its inmates. The wings of the house used for the asylum were demolished in the 1950s so little now remains of this use, except in archival records.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Place: Chiswick Asylum |url=http://historyof.place/location/chiswick-house/ |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref> In 1897, the two sphinxes on the main gate were removed to [[Green Park]] during the celebrations of the [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria]]. They were never returned.<ref name="LGT">{{cite web |url=http://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/chiswick2006.htm |title=The Restoration of Chiswick House Gardens |publisher=London Garden Trust |access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref>

===Public ownership (1929–present)===
[[File:Archeological dig at Chiswick House uncovering the remains of the old Jacobean House.jpg|thumb|English Heritage archaeologists uncover the substantial remains of the old Jacobean house in a 2008 dig.]]

The 9th Duke of Devonshire sold Chiswick House to [[Middlesex County Council]] in 1929,{{sfn|Groves|Mawrey|2010|p=79}}  the purchase price being met in part by contributions from public subscribers, including King [[George V]].<ref name="WeinrebHibbert1983"/> The villa became a fire station during World War II,<ref name="Fisher1980">{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Lois H. |title=A literary gazetteer of England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDmdIHzcI70C|date=March 1980|publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=141|isbn=9780070210981 }}</ref> and suffered damage; vibration from the bombing of Chiswick brought down the plasterwork in the Upper Tribunal, and on 8 September 1944 a [[V-2]] rocket damaged one of the two wings.<ref name="Richardson2000">{{cite book |last=Richardson |first=John |title=The Annals of London: a year-by-year record of a thousand years of history |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsoflondonye00rich |url-access=registration |date=4 September 2000 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22795-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsoflondonye00rich/page/349 349]}}</ref> The wings were removed in 1956.<ref name="HibbertWeinreb2008"/>

In 1948, extensive lobbying from the newly created [[Georgian Group]] prevented it from being destroyed.<ref name="Norwich1993">{{cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |title=Britain's heritage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9bP3aZxP_EC  |date=1 January 1993 |publisher=Rainbow Books |isbn=978-1-85698-006-7}}</ref> The house came under the aegis of the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Works]] and subsequently of [[English Heritage]].<ref name="LGT"/><ref name="Jones2005">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Nigel R. |title=Architecture of England, Scotland, and Wales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=epsFOeV1mCMC&pg=PA77 |year=2005 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-31850-4 |page=77}}</ref>

[[Hounslow London Borough Council|Hounslow Council]] and English Heritage formed the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust in 2005 to unify the management of the villa and gardens. The trust took over the administration for the villa and gardens in July 2010, following the completion of the restoration works.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chgt.org.uk/documents/CHISWICK%20HOUSE%20GARDENS%20RESTORATION%20PRESS%20PACK.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005042410/http://www.chgt.org.uk/documents/CHISWICK%20HOUSE%20GARDENS%20RESTORATION%20PRESS%20PACK.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 October 2011 |title=Unveiling of the Restored Chiswick House Gardens |publisher=Chiswick House and Gardens Trust |access-date=7 May 2011 }}</ref> A [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] grant was complemented by approximately £4 million from other sources, for restoration of the gardens in 2007.{{sfn|Groves|Mawrey|2010|p=79}} The garden is open to the public from dawn until dusk without charge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chgt.org.uk/?PageID=17 |title=Visitor information |publisher=Chiswick House and Gardens Trust |access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref>