The Garth and Hammerwood Park
Wed 10 Jul 2024 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM BST
The Garth, RH7 6BJ
Description
Enjoy exclusive owner-led guided tours of two contrasting and fascinating tucked away houses in the Surrey and Sussex Weald.
Discover Grade II* The Garth, where we will enjoy a guided tour of the house with time to explore the beautiful Arts and Crafts gardens, designed by the architect of the house Walter Godfrey, with additional Mediterranean inspired sections added by the current owners. One room displays old documents, artefacts and architectural drawings relating to the history of the house, its design and the sourcing of materials for its construction. The original parish workhouse was built in 1729 and altered in 1919. The house retains many original features with beamed ceilings, chamfered main beams and leaded windows.
Hammerwood Park
Later, visit Grade I Hammerwood Park, a house with a fascinating history and many eclectic owners. The house was built in 1792 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the architect of the White House and US Capitol Building in Washington D.C. and nearby Ashdown House. One of the first examples of Greek Revival architecture in the UK, it was purchased in the 1960s by the rock group Led Zeppelin. The design comprises a large Palladian central block accentuated by a giant order of shallow pilasters, flanked by low arcaded wings terminated in tetra style porticos. Coadeware plaques of scenes derived from the Borghese Vase adorn both porticos and the influence of the temples at Paestum, which Latrobe may have witnessed on a visit to Naples, and Delos have been noted by scholars. Nikolaus Pevsner observed that the columns were "patently inspired by the then very recent work of Ledoux and Brongniart”.
Tickets £78 including a two-course lunch at the Star Inn, Lingfield and afternoon tea and coffee with cakes at Hammerwood House
Lunch options to be made available to attendees in June 2024
Location
The Garth, RH7 6BJ