Harewood House
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Harewood House as of 2005, seen from the garden |
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Harewood House from A Complete History of the County of York by Thomas Allen (1828â€"30), showing the house before Barry altered the facades and added an extra storey to the pavilions. |
Harewood House is a
country house near
Harewood,
West Yorkshire,
England. It is a member of
Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for the ten foremost stately homes in England. The house itself is a Grade I
listed building, there are a number of features in the grounds and courtyard that have been listed as Grade II and II*.
The house was built from 1759 to 1771 for the Lascelles family, who had bought the estate after making their fortune in the
West Indies through Customs positions,
slave trading and lending money to planters. The house was designed by the architects
John Carr and
Robert Adam. Much of the furniture is by the
18th-century English furniture designer,
Thomas Chippendale, who came from nearby
Otley.
The house served as a convalescent hospital during both
World War I and
World War II and has a long history of taking visitors interested in its imposing architecture, and collections of paintings. The first guidebook to Harewood House was published early in the nineteenth century.
Lancelot "Capability" Brown designed the grounds to which Sir
Charles Barry later added a grand terrace.
There is often debate as to the exact pronuctiation of the word 'Harewood'. Typically pronounced 'Hare-wood', there are also other variations including 'Haar-wood', with the 'e' being deemed silent.
The house is still the family home of the Lascelles family.
Lord Harewood, George Lascelles, is the seventh
Earl. His mother was
Mary, Princess Royal, daughter of
King George V and
Queen Mary.
The estate has been transferred into a trust ownership structure, and as a result is managed by Harewood House Trust and is open to the public throughout the year. Harewood won the
Visitor Attraction of the Year award in 1994 and remains a popular
Yorkshire tourist attraction. As well as tours of the house and grounds, visitors can enjoy an educational bird garden, adventure playground and local teas and delicacies.
*
Official site*
Harewood House weddings, Official site
