Montacute House is a late Elizabethan mansion in Montacute, South Somerset, England. An example of English architecture created during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the more classically-inspired Renaissance style, Montacute is one of the few prodigy houses to have survived almost unchanged from the Elizabethan era. The house has been designated as a Grade I listed building, and its gardens are also listed at the highest grade on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.
Designed by an unknown architect, possibly the mason William Arnold, the three-storey mansion, constructed of the local Ham Hill stone, was built in about 1598 for Sir Edward Phelips, a lawyer and politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1604 until 1611, and subsequently Master of the Rolls from 1611 until his death in 1614. He was the prosecutor in the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters. Phelips' descendants occupied the house until the early 20th century. For a brief period, the house was let to tenants, one of whom was Lord Curzon, who lived at the house with his mistress, the novelist Elinor Glyn. The house narrowly escaped demolition in the early 20th century, when it was valued for scrap at just under £6,000. In 1931, Montacute was acquired by the National Trust. One of the earliest of the Trust's acquisitions, the house came empty of its contents, and without the endowment the Trust subsequently required, its then secretary, James Lees-Milne describing it as an "empty and rather embarrassing white elephant".[1]
The east front of the house, the intended principal façade, is distinguished by its Dutch gables. The original approach would have been far more impressive than is seen today; the east façade faced onto a large entrance court and the two remaining pavilions flanked a large gatehouse which was later demolished. This entrance court and gatehouse were approached through an even larger outer court. The courts were however not fortified, but bordered by ornate balustrading which, with the ogee roofs of the pavilions, are in reality follies, an ornamental and domestic acknowledgement of the fortified courts and approaches found in earlier medieval English manors and castles.
Montacute's Long Gallery, the longest in England, serves as an outpost of the National Portrait Gallery displaying a range of historical portraits. The house and its gardens have been a filming location for several films and a setting for television costume dramas and literary adaptations. It was visited by over 183,000 people in 2019-2020.
MontacuteHouse is a late Elizabethan mansion in Montacute, South Somerset, England. An example of English architecture created during a period that was...
Montacute is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 831 (2011 census). The...
The House of Montagu (/ˈmɒntəɡjuː/, MON-tə-ghew), also known throughout history as Montagud, Montaigu, Montague, Montacute (Latin: de Monte Acuto, lit...
Register of Historic Places Monty House (Montague Grant House, born 1946), Western Australian politician MontacuteHouse Montague (disambiguation) Montagu...
country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time: MontacuteHouse, Chatsworth House, and Blenheim...
Earl of Oxford De Vere House (known as the Harry Potter house) in Lavenham, Suffolk MontacuteHouse in South Somerset − which houses most of the family portraits...
civilizations.[citation needed] Examples in England are the garden houses at MontacuteHouse in Somerset. The gazebo at Elton on the Hill in Nottinghamshire...
(19 April 1961). "Walls, turrets and gateway to east forecourt of MontacuteHouse (1252025)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 December...
and part of which (called by Rogers, a screen) was removed to nearby MontacuteHouse. The Horsey family of Horsey near Bridgwater in Somerset held properties...
Glyn the sapphires she wears in the portrait. In 1915, Curzon leased MontacuteHouse, in South Somerset, for him and Glyn, now a widow as her husband had...
Montacute Priory was a Cluniac priory of the Benedictine order in Montacute, Somerset, England. It was founded between 1078 and 1102 by William, Count...
development gave rise to palatial stone dwellings or prodigy houses such as Hardwick Hall and MontacuteHouse. During the 17th century, the continuing advance of...
the time, his style was an innovation. Just thirty years earlier, MontacuteHouse, exemplifying the English Renaissance, had been revolutionary; only...
building, London Manchester Liverpool Road railway station, Manchester MontacuteHouse, Somerset Norwich Castle, Norwich Palace of Westminster, London Pontcysyllte...
Court, MontacuteHouse and Tyntesfield as well as Stembridge Tower Mill, the last remaining thatched windmill in England. Other historic houses in the...
C17 country house" remodelled, after 1608, by William Arnold who also worked on Dunster Castle in this period and built MontacuteHouse and Wadham College...
Sowden, Steve (1 June 2011). "Well-known actor at church fete at MontacuteHouse". This is the West Country. Archived from the original on 15 September...
married Elizabeth Phelips of MontacuteHouse. It was inherited by John Buckland's daughter. She died without children and the house and surrounding manor was...
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