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Stowe House Photo TourStowe House, one of the great stately homes of England, is set in probably the most influential landscape garden ever created. The house is run as a school, but is open to visitors out of school time. The interior showcases a wonder set of state rooms looking out over the South Vista created by Capability Brown. Chief of the interior rooms is the superb Marble Hall with its conical dome.
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View of Stowe House across the waters of the Octagon Lake. The house is not part of the Stowe Landscape Garden, but is run as a private school. Though closed to the public for many years, the house is now open for visitors on selected days throughout the year. |
Stowe House, from the bottom of the South Vista. The house was erected in 1677, and continuously remodelled by generations of the Temple-Grenville family. |
The glorious portico over the south entrance. This is to the design of Earl Temple's cousin, Thomas Pitt. |
Another view of the south portico. Imposing, certainly, but yet it carries a sense of elegance, perhaps due to the slenderness of the columns which carry the weight of the pediment. |
These views of the South Frontage show the house top its best advantage. The architecture is beautifully simple, with classical columns leading to a rooftop parapet. |
The parapet of the south frontage. |
Classical medallions like this one are set into gaps between the columns on the first floor of the south front. |
The ground level features much simpler decotation, with plain columns. This is a common occurence in classical frontages, to have the lower house simple and decoration become progressively more ornate as it rises to the foofline. |
Colonnading and ceiling of the south porch. |
The interior of the south porch is quite plain compard to the exterior. A frieze with classical motifs runs around the porch - a foretaste, perhaps of what to expect in the interior. |
Looking out through the columns of the south portico, across the Octagon and Eleven Actre Lakes to the Corinthian Arch far in the distance. |
Tours of Stowe House start in the North Hall. This is a lofty chamber, with a collection of allegorical painted panels by William Kent depicting classical deities. |
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