Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of architecture,[1] and it prefigured the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival.
Walpole rebuilt the existing house in stages starting in 1749, 1760, 1772 and 1776. These added Gothic features such as towers and battlements outside and elaborate decoration inside to create "gloomth" to suit Walpole's collection of antiquarian objects, contrasting with the more cheerful or "riant"[2] garden. The interior included a Robert Adam fireplace; parts of the exterior were designed by James Essex. The garden contained a large seat shaped like a Rococo sea shell, which was recreated during the 2012 restoration of the garden, one of the many examples of historic garden conservation in the UK.
- ^ Kennedy, Maev (12 September 2010). "Strawberry Hill will open doors to public once again". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
- ^ 'Riant' is the French word for 'laughing'.