Owletts
| Owletts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 51°23′35″N0°23′31″E/ 51.393°N 0.392°E |
| OS grid reference | TQ 665 687 |
| Built | 1683/4 |
| Built for | Bonham Hayes (farmer) |
| Restored | conservation works 2010–2012 by National Trust |
| Architect | Bonham Hayes |
| Architectural style(s) | extended and altered by Sir Herbert Baker |
| Governing body | The National Trust. Www.nationaltrust.org.uk/Owletts |
| Type | Grade II* |
| Designated | 27 August 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1049097 |
  Owletts location in Kent | |
Owlettsis acountry house0.8 miles (1.3 km) to the northwest of the village ofCobhamin Kent, England.
It is aGrade II*listed building owned by theNational Trust.[1][2]
History
[edit]The house was originally built in 1683–84 for Bonham Hayes (died 1720), a successful, yeoman farmer of the Cobham area, and his wife Elizabeth.[3] The red-brick KentishYeoman's house is symmetrical, two storeys high, with sliding sash anddormerwindows. The house interiors date in part to 1684, and include a remarkably ornateCarolean plasterworkceiling above the principal staircase.[4]
Having passed to Hayes's son, Richard, then his grandson (also Richard),[3]the house passed in 1894 to the Edmeades family ofNurstead(also in the parish ofGravesend), then by marriage to the Baker family.[1]
In 1862 the renowned architectSir Herbert Bakerwas born here. Owletts became Herbert Baker's home in later life and he made numerous alterations including the addition of a porch and a wing on the north-west corner of the house. He also removed the wall between the entrance hall and the drawing room and in that room installed an ornamental 'Empire' clock.[1]The family filled the house with specially commissioned or collected furniture.[4]
The house has a garden partly designed byGertrude Jekyll,who was introduced to Baker byEdwin Lutyens(her friend) when he was working with Baker inErnest GeorgeandHarold Peto's architectural office in London.[5]
Acanthusplants growing in the garden are symbolic of Herbert Baker's architectural profession. Also within the garden is a bird-bath formed from Tivoli Order variantCorinthian capitalssalvaged from the oldBank of Englandbuilding byJohn Soanewhen Sir Herbert rebuilt the Bank (between 1925 and 1939).[6]
When Herbert Baker died at the age of 83 on 4 February 1946 he left Owletts to the National Trust.[7]The National Trust lets the property, but some rooms and the garden are opened regularly to the public. The last tenant was David Baker, the great-grandson and heir of Sir Herbert Baker, who lived there together with his family until the rent was increased in 2023. A petition was begun to keep the house open to the public.
The National Trust have said it will open ‘for at least 2 days’ a year but no new tenant is yet in place.[8]
The house closed in 2011 for a £1 million refit, during which the collection of 900 objects and 1,400 books was carefully packed and stored off-site.[9]It reopened on 7 April 2013.[10]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Owletts, Cobham".britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.Retrieved11 December2013.
- ^Historic England."Owletts, The Street (1049097)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved12 December2013.
- ^abNewman, John (2012).The buildings of England: Kent - West and the Weald(3 ed.). Yale. p. 194.
- ^ab"Owletts".britainexpress.Retrieved12 December2013.
- ^"BAKER, Sir Herbert John".artefacts.co.za.Retrieved12 December2013.
- ^"Buildings and Architects".bankofengland.co.uk.Retrieved12 December2013.
- ^"Herbert Baker".The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.36(142): 107–108. 1942.doi:10.1080/00358534608451375.
- ^"Family 'forced out' of country house left to National Trust".The Telegraph.18 October 2023.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved12 June2024.
- ^"Returning the historic collection at Owletts".nationaltrust.org.uk.Retrieved12 December2011.
- ^Dubuis, Anna (14 January 2013)."Sir Herbert Baker's Cobham house Owletts to reopen".The Reporter.Gravesend.
External links
[edit]- Owletts- National Trust
- List of paintings in the house