Plans and interiors of Mentmore

Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law George Stokes designed Mentmore Towers (correctly known as just Mentmore in the mid-1850s), a house in Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, England. Paxton was the most lauded and fashionable architect of the period.

The basic plan of Mentmore is of two interlocking square blocks of equal size with a three-floored tower on each corner. As one faces the principal entrance in the centre of the left-hand block, the right-hand (servants' or service) block appears only as a single storey, because its first floor is sunk into the ground, having no windows other than to the rear and to the internal courtyard, so the servants would not be distracted from their work.

The principal block, two floors high with four towers, is built around a central glass-roofed courtyard, formerly known as "The Grand Hall". The glass roof was a speciality of Paxton's; as with The Crystal Palace it was designed on the ridge and furrow principle. The front door, facing east, was reached by a porte-cochere from what Paxton referred to as the Cour d'honneur; this three-sided courtyard is flanked on the right by the second floor of the service block, and on the left by the windowless rear of the billiards room. Instead of windows, both flanking wings had a series of niches that were designed for statues but seem never to have been filled. The three-floored tower to the right of the front door connecting the service and principal blocks was in fact a cleverly disguised water tower, which served not only the mansion, but part of the village as well.

The south-facing side of the principal block opened onto a wide terrace overlooking the Chiltern Hills. Wide flights of stone steps lead to the lawns below. The west facade overlooked the fountain garden. The north-facing facade formed a two-sided area together with the west facade of the service block: here was once the ornate and intricate Italian garden.

The courtyard around which the service block was built was reached through large iron gates under an archway. This courtyard, unseen by any of the influential guests, was built of common yellow brick, while the rest of the mansion was faced in golden Ancaster stone.

The house contained many innovations of the day—huge panes of plate glass both inside and out, central underfloor heating, and an attempt at early air conditioning. There was also hot and cold running water for the bathrooms and flushing lavatories. Mentmore was the most luxurious house in Britain at the time.

Apart from the fountain and Italian gardens the rest of the grounds were turned over to grass and parkland. Along winding gravel paths were scattered priceless statues, urns and smaller fountains; one path led to a small gate bearing the sign 'Ruth's Gate' which gave entry to Mentmore Churchyard. Ruth had been the daughter of the 5th Earl's son Neil Primrose, who was killed during World War I; she later married the 2nd Earl of Halifax.

In the curve of the principal drive facing the front of the mansion stood King Tom, a larger-than-life bronze statue of Baron Mayer de Rothschild's favourite stallion. This statue by Joseph Boehm is now at the Rosebery family home at Dalmeny in Scotland.

1970s

What follows is based on a description of the interior of the mansion circa 1970 when it was still the home of the Earl and Countess of Rosebery.

The interior of the mansion during the period until the early 1970s was like stepping back into a Victorian time warp. On passing through the front door one immediately entered the large vestibule or East Entrance Hall; the walls of Caen stone were hung with large paintings, statues of blackamoor heads were against the walls and a wide flight of steps led into the mansion proper, and at the head of the steps blocking the plate glass door (intended as the main entrance to the grand hall) was the 17th-century Marie de Medici cabinet, one of the treasures of the collection. Thus one entered the principal room from the entrance hall via a corridor at the top of the steps.

The Grand Hall was a glass-roofed courtyard at the centre of the main block of the mansion. Its principal feature was the huge chimney-piece (supposedly) designed by Rubens for his house in Antwerp). It was of black marble with white marble headed rams acting as caryatids at the side. On top of this huge structure stood a large solid silver statue of the court dwarf of Charles I. The hall was two floors high. At the ground-floor level hung magnificent Gobelin tapestries, at the second-floor level ran a huge arcaded gallery completely around the room, the coloured marbles and green alabaster of its balustrade complemented the Byzantine and Venetian furnishings - the huge baroque gilded thrones, the painted and gilded Venetian sedan chair, the numerous tables of objets d'art, clocks and statues. The magnificent venis martin grand piano were less remarkable than the three huge elongated gold lanterns which lit the hall. These had come from the Doge of Venice's state barge, the Bucintoro. The royal Savonnerie carpet on the floor was reputed to be stained with the blood of an executed monarch, but may have been from the Roseberys' numerous dogs.

As one stood in the hall facing the Rubens chimney-piece, to the left through a glazed arch and door, one looked into an anteroom and hence the obviously named South Entrance through a single pane of plate glass (the largest ever produced at the time) to the stunning panorama of the Chilterns. To the right and through another glazed arch was the Grand Staircase, a single flight of wide white marble steps divided at the mezzanine level into two further flights to the arcaded gallery above. Here on the stairs were two of the most famous paintings, Gainsborough's only known sporting picture; and the jewel of the collection, the Drouais of Madame de Pompadour, now in the National Gallery. For this picture alone the British government paid almost as much as it could have paid for the remainder of the collection. Either side of the stairs in concave recessed glass cases were the family racing trophies, Ascot Gold Cups, 2,000 Guineas cups, St. Leger plates and the Epsom Derby trophies. Also displayed here were German gold and silver cups, including a famous ampullah shaped as an owl in solid gold, studded with precious stones.

On either side of the South Entrance were the two principal drawing rooms. The white drawing room, the larger of the two, had been stripped of its Fragonard doors and Boucher paintings after World War II; by the 1970s it had become a rather grand box room, with painting and priceless antiques stacked and jumbled. However, from this room access was gained to one of the gems of the collection: behind a mirrored secret door was the Blarenberghe Room. This small tower room was lined with over 40 paintings by that artist, and further gold snuff boxes and miniatures were displayed in small cases and vitrines.