The Palladian villa at Stourhead was finished in 1725 and had taken four years to build. The land had previously been owned by the Stourton’s and Henry Hoare I pulled down the near derelict Stourton Manor to build his fashionable Palladian country house which was designed by the Scottish architect Colen Campbell.
Stourhead House has changed somewhat over the years, with different members of the family altering the appearance to suit their own tastes and fashions of the time. The additions of the wings and of the portico to the front of the house were made by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and Sir Henry Hugh Hoare during their ownership. Over the years, the shape, size and functions of the rooms have also changed for best use of the members of the family living there at the time.
Stourhead was one of the first grand Palladian-style villas to be built in England and as such it follows the correct tradition, where the carriage entrance leads to the piano nobile, or main floor, where the state rooms are arranged. Underneath in a semi-basement, lie the ‘engine rooms’ of the house – the kitchens, sculleries and offices.
The house was intended to be the main country home for Henry Hoare I ‘the Good’ and his family, but unfortunately Henry passed away the same year that the house was completed.
Henry ‘the Good’s grandson Sir Richard Colt Hoare made huge changes to the house, not only by adding the wings, but also by adding to the wonderful collection inside. He had decided that Stourhead as it currently stood was not large enough for his books and paintings, so the wings were built to house this collection and are great examples of his Regency taste.
