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Wotton House, or Wotton, in Wotton Underwood (Buckinghamshire, UK), was built between 1704 and 1714, to a design very similar to that of the contemporary version of Buckingham House. The house is an example of English Baroque and a Grade I listed building. The grounds were laid out by London & Wise with a formal parterre and a double elm avenue leading down to a lake. Fifty years later William Pitt the Elder and Capability Brown improved the landscape, creating pleasure grounds of 200 acres incorporating two lakes. After a fire gutted the main house in 1820 the owner, Richard Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, commissioned John Soane to rebuild it. After the 3rd Duke of Buckingham, the last direct Grenville male heir, died in 1889, the house was let to a succession of tenants until in 1929 it was bought by Major Michael Beaumont MP and renovated by the architect ASG Butler, concealing all of Soane's detailing including the central three-storey Tribune. In 1947 Beaumont sold the estate to the Merchant Venturers of Bristol who divided the grounds into small parcels and let the main house to two boys' schools. By 1957 the house had become derelict and was due to be demolished when Elaine Brunner found it and with the help of the architect Donald Insall restored most of the Soane features. The South Pavilion (the former coach house) was sold separately in 1947. It has had a number of notable owners including Sir Arthur Bryant and Sir John Gielgud, and is now owned by Tony and Cherie Blair. ==History of the house== Since the twelfth century there had been a manor house at Wotton Underwood owned by the Grenville family, who had accompanied William the Conqueror. In 1704 Richard Grenville (1644-?) built Wotton House on a new site on a mound looking down to a natural lake. The design was very similar to that of Buckingham House which was built at the same time and later became Buckingham Palace. The architect is unknown, but Sir Howard Colvin suggested John Fitch; John Millar believes it could be by Elizabeth Wilbraham. In 1749 Richard Grenville, the elder brother of George Grenville (Prime Minister between 1763 and 1765), inherited Stowe House through his wife Hester, sister of Viscount Cobham. Wotton was then run in tandem with Stowe. A fire destroyed the interior of the house in 1820 but the coach house and kitchen pavilion (the "Clock Pavilion") survived intact. Richard Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, engaged John Soane before the embers were cold to restore the main house. Soane lowered the house, removing the top floor and reducing the height of the first floor windows, giving it a Georgian proportion. He made inventive use of the existing floor plans and created a three-storey, top-lit "Tribune", alongside a new stone staircase, in place of the old entrance hall. With its Soane interiors Wotton had a succession of Grenville occupiers until 1889, when the last direct male heir died. It was rented and then bought by Michael Beaumont (MP for Aylesbury) in 1929. He later moved to Kildare and the house was sold to a charity. It was neglected down through the Second World War (when it was not requisitioned), but it was put up for sale shortly thereafter. After the war much of the grounds were sold in small parcels and in the early 1950s the building was used by two boys' boarding schools, Wotton House Boys School followed by Cokethorpe School (since relocated to near Witney). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wotton House」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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