Kedleston Hall
A Robert Adam Masterpiece
Derbyshire
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In 1758 Nathaniel Curzon, Lord
Scarsdale, met
architect Robert Adam, who was newly returned from a Grand Tour and
full of imaginative ideas about using classical design in modern
buildings. Curzon was already planning a new house on his ancestral
property at Kedleston near Derby and work had begun on two small parts
of the proposed house.
Adam's enthusiasm
for his new ideas soon captivated Curzon, however, and by 1760 he was
in sole charge of the plans. The result was the first, and
possibly the best, Adam house in existence. And owing mainly to chance
it remains one of the most complete today. It has escaped
subsequent generations' ideas of modernisation and is almost exactly as
Adam planned it. Much of the furniture and contents are still in situ
and the full range of Adam's ideas can be seen together.
Current owner The National Trust is
operating a policy of restoring it,
when necessary, to its original state, rather than just conserving
it. For example, furnishings have been replaced with modern
fabrics created to original designs and in the bright colours that Adam
used.
The central part of
the house was never designed as a home - rather it was an entertainment
suite where Curzon could show off his sumptuous art collection in
suitable surroundings. The building is well up to the challenge,
with its magnificent entrance hall, clad almost entirely in local stone
and marble with highlights of Italian marble. The ceiling is supported
on 20 huge alabaster columns which were originally plain but Curzon had
them fluted, in situ, some years after the house was completed. Beyond
the marble hall is the saloon with its great rotunda and dome, modelled
on the Pantheon in Rome. The floor is designed for dancing and is
sprung on woollen fleeces.
The central section of the house is
flanked with curved corridors
leading to separate, square pavilions, one of which held the kitcven
and the other containing the family rooms. The floorboards in
these corridors were hewn from curved tree trunks so the lines do not
disturb the eye as an observer looks along them.
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