Hylands House - Chelmsford | Historic Neoclassical Mansion in Southern England

Hylands House situated in the attractive municipality of Chelmsford- Essex with its park are together a fascinating and splendid complex consisting in a stylish neoclassical mansion located in a superb green lung of southern England part of an environment of immense beauty in the most scenic British countryside.

That beautiful and majestic former noble residence has a to narrate, it was originally built?in 1730 becoming in a very short time an important point of interest all around the country.

Highlighted to have had twelve different owners who in different times loved very much their residence? contributing to create what we can admire nowadays.

The first of them was Sir John Comyns, a famed and wealthy lawyer who purchased that land and commissioned the construction of a former building which originally had a total different image of that one visible today.

The architect who projected the first construction is unknown but he was probably a figure from the local area who designed a structure following the architectural canons in vogue in the 18th century in England represented by the emblematic Queen Anne style.

Approximately 60 years later the villa was transformed in an elegant and majestic neoclassical masterpiece by a rich Danish merchant called Cornelius Hendrickson Kortright who made his fortune with the commerce of sugar in the West Indies.

In the new project managed by the architect Humphry Repton there was?also a strong inspiration related to another scenic architectural style called Palladian created by that famed artist named Andrea Palladio who as you know established in Italy and concretely in the region Veneto stunning villas.

The villa was covered by stylish light stuccoes and that architect also developed a portico with four giant Ionic columns which was the last operation linked to the finest Neoclassical, Romantic and Palladian traditional architectural canons.

In 1815 a Dutch-French merchant and businessman called Pierre Labouchère purchased that decided to modify more that already vast garden with a plantation of exotic plants.

Upon Labouchere's death in 1839, that stunning building was acquired for ￡50,000 by John Attwood, a British ironworks entrepreneur from Birmingham and also that man decided to increase the size of the park commissioning works with operations pretty laborious for the design of a new environment and for that he purchased approximately 3,500 acres of additional land.

From 1854 to 1904 the complex became a property of Arthur Pryor, an important beer magnate who bought the house which during those years had a partial re-decoration of the interior with a special attention to the large banqueting lounge.

The following owner was Sir Daniel Gooch who rented the villa since 1905 buying it two years later.That gentleman remodelled and modernised his property adding telephones and electricity starting to manage the organisation of events and parties, among them a relevant celebration which saw protagonist the coronation of King George V.

During the 1st World War in Hylands House was established a military hospital, hosting approximately 1,500 injured soldiers.

In 1922 the complex became a property of John and Christine Hanbury, the man sadly died in 1923 and the wife continued to live there with the son Jock, hosting some organisations as the Red Cross.

The mansion was also used for a period as residence of German prisoners of war and base of the 6th Anti-Aircraft Division of the British Army, operations which also continued during the 2nd World War when Hylands House became in 1944 a headquarter of SAS, the special air force of the United Kingdom. ?

That lady was very fond of landscape gardening and she started to re-design that large green area focused to mix art and nature in a sort of creative and eclectic combination including adding a touch of cosmopolitan air with very significant details to her new property.

Furthermore during those works a large part of the gardens were developed in French and Italian styles taking as inspiration the magnificent gardened masterrpieces of the Italian lakes and those of the French C?te D′Azur and also wide spaces of well preserved grass with the presence of rhododendrons planted in different corners.

After the death of Mrs. Hanbury in 1962, aged 89, Chelmsford Borough Council bought Hylands House and Hylands Park in 1966 opening that parkland to the public and many people started to admire a site which is nowadays a pride of that centre, Essex, and England.

Some works of refurbishment took place in 1986 and 1996 with dedication to the Entrance Hall which acquired a magnificent Georgian image and also to other lounges as the Blue Room and Boudoir while in 1999 further operations were managed to the east wing which was totally re-modelled.

The last restoration of the historic landscape made by Repton took place between 2004 and 2007 and those works were financed by HLF, the Heritage Lottery Fund with its headquarter in London.

Today that beautiful villa is a seat devoted to host events, celebrations and weddings, a very famous site well known for its past but also for its great preservation and fascination so it could be an incentive to take in consideration the great opportunity that site offers boasting a superb and stylish Grand Pavillon simply great for layout, refined setting and also in terms of capacity.

Also the Film Industry was particularly attracted by the beauty of that complex which in 2004 was used as scene of a romantic comedy movie titled Chasing Liberty, an American production directed by Andy Cadiff, starring Matthew Goode, Mandy Moore, Annabella Sciorra, Caroline Goddall and Mark Harmon and in that film Hylands House doubled US Washington White House.?

Next to the Villa on the left side near the parking you can visit the former Georgian Stables which were totally restored hosting nowadays the New Visitor Centre.

The complex also provides a cafe, a restaurant, two perfect and ideal services for a cool drink or a simple break with a warm cup of tea or coffee but also with the opportunity to taste typical English gastronomic specialities.?

Other environments include interpretation rooms, stabling for horses and you can visit the Art Studies, a small exhibition of modern art displaying Art Deco and Cubism works.In addition you can find an artisan shop with local products in which you can buy decorative, ornamental articles, various souvenirs, handcraft items, soaps and other several accessories.?

Chelmsford with Hylands House & Park is just one hour driving from central London by A13/M25 via Brentwood and from the capital of the United Kingdom you have to follow the indications leading to Ipswich and it is situated not far from Stansted Airport.

You will certainly enjoy that great place, the image of that site in the heart of a fabulous park continuing later to admire the fascination of the inviting English countryside which is in its kind a further brilliant experience returning home also with memories of the country you visited with distinctive and traditional British images, true symbols of a Nation.

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https://hylandsestate.co.uk/

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