Marden Hill
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Marden Hill is a
The house, originally Jacobean but substantially rebuilt in the 18th-century and modified in the 19th, is built in two storeys with attics of yellow brick with Portland stone dressings. The floor plan is square with five bays and a two-storey Ionic entrance porch at the front.
History
In 1550, the Manor of Marden paid a rent of 26 ounces (740 g) of honey to the
It was bought by
The house was sold to Charles G. Thornton, who served as Governor of the Bank of England in the 1790s. Through his connection with the bank, Thornton knew the architect Sir John Soane, surveyor of the Bank of England since 1788, and commissioned him to extend the house. Soane's work for the Bank of England is largely destroyed but elements of that building were used in his designs for Marden Hill and still exist, particularly the Aztec-style cornices and the Ionic columns. He designed a vestibule and staircase, and also added the Ionic-columned two-storey porch that is a notable feature of the building.
In 1903 it came, at last, to be owned by the Cowper estate, and was leased. During World War II, it was occupied by a boarding school. The building was listed in 1952. In 1957 it was owned by a gravel extraction company, which was unable to demolish the building, and leased it to two architects, who signed a 21-year lease. A co-ownership company was formed, which now owns the freehold of Marden Hill.[2] Nine families live there today.
References
- ^ "Name: MARDEN HILL HOUSE, SERVICE BLOCK AND ANNEXE List entry Number: 1366605". Historic England. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ Companies House (3 January 2020). "Marden Hill Residents Association Limited". Companies House service. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.