Microscopic analysis of the original paint has revealed pale sky-blue was Adam’s colour of choice – and thus, most notably on the entrance-hall walls and great staircase balustrade, Adam’s (repainted) blue pervades the house once more.We no longer check to see whether Telegraph.co.uk displays properly in Internet Explorer version 6 or earlier.And what of Kenwood’s finest room, the Library, conceived by Adam – with its columnar screened apses – like ancient Roman baths. The Great Room (or Adam Library) functioned as the library of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, who commissioned the architects Robert and James Adam to design the space along with its furnishings. It was acquired by the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, William Bridges in 1694, who demolished the property and rebuilt it; the original brick structure remains intact under the facade added in the 18th century. The gilding around the ceiling panels, cornices and capitals (a 19th-century addition) has now mercifully been removed, making for a more suitably studious, less showy, room. Unsexy, but actually rather fundamental, repairs have been made to the roof, chimneys and gutters. Antonio Zucchi’s ceiling paintings (centrally 'Hercules between Glory and the Passions', alluding to the Earl of Mansfield’s wise judgement) are also now allowed the chance to breathe.All of which is to say, this is a sensitive revamp rather than a sensational one – and I’d now advise you to visit Kenwood not just in summer for the annual concert series in its gardens.
(The public is, of course, invited to sit on all the period seats and sofas. The painted ceiling by Antonio Zucchi in the Robert Adam library. Kenwood House: A restored Neoclassic After a £6 million revamp, London's Georgian gem, Kenwood House, reopens to the public today – restored as close as … The painted panels in the classical allegorical style on the ceiling are by Antonio Zucchi. The library at Kenwood House is one of the finest of Robert Adam's rooms in existence and was intended not merely as a library, but as 'a room for receiving company'. Bridges sold the house in 1704, and it went under several owners until 1754, when it was bought by the future Earl of Mansfield, Willia… A 1738 portrait of the very first Earl, judge William Murray, now greets us in the entrance hall. The orangery was added in about 1700. Location: World,Europe,United Kingdom,England,Greater London,London,Camden,Hampstead The visitor is welcomed as a guest, gratifyingly unencumbered – anywhere – by a reception desk or rope barriers.
The Mansfields had auctioned off most of Kenwood’s furniture in 1922, but through painstaking research of bills, inventories and sales records, much of it has been tracked down and bought back.In the case of four entrance-hall benches, their identity was confirmed by consulting photographs in a 1913 issue of Country Life. )The first Earl of Mansfield set leading neoclassical architect, Robert Adam, to work on Kenwood in the 1760s, seeking a mansion to match his stellar status at court. The ceiling paintings are oil on paper and the intricate platerwork is done by Joeseph Rose.
This giclée print delivers a vivid image with maximum color accuracy and exceptional resolution. The intention is clear: to make Kenwood feel less like a museum and more like a home again. The rendered brickwork and portico, previously an off-putting cream, have now been painted a sandy colour.Guinness purchased Kenwood in the early Twenties, it previously having been the family seat of each Earl of Mansfield. Thanks to close contact with Mayfair dealers, Guinness was able to steal a march on his transatlantic competitors (JP Morgan, Henry Frick et al) and snap up early the country-house treasures of British aristocrats hit hard by agricultural depression in the late-19th century.Kenwood reopened to the public on Thursday after a £5.95 million facelift. The library at Kenwood, which has been decorated in its original colour scheme to show the room as it was originally conceived by Adam.
Guinness was a fascinating character, one so wealthy his death duties allowed Winston Churchill (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) to reduce general levels of income tax by sixpence. Inside the house itself, at any time of year, you’ll be guaranteed a warm welcome.© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2020It hangs above a roaringly reinstalled open fire, with a warm Turkish carpet covering the floor. Yet he also burned for the social cachet of an English lord.Picturesquely perched on the edge of Hampstead Heath, Kenwood owes its 63 canvases to erstwhile owner, Edward Cecil Guinness, the intoxicatingly rich, Irish brewing magnate. It’s a most informal image, depicting Murray without his wig or other judicial accoutrements: instead, he wears a velvet gown and night cap.The English Heritage curators have been assiduous in trying to meet his bequest and restore Kenwood as close as possible to its original state.