Walpole’s inheritance: an interview with the curator of strawberry hill house on its ten year restoration anniversary
On taking a stroll through the pretty and affluent London suburb of Strawberry Hill, the gleaming white of Horace Walpole’s ‘little gothic castle’ is a striking sight for unsuspecting eyes, an eccentric enclave amongst its red brick surroundings. The looming towers of Strawberry Hill house dominate the landscape, seemingly untouched by the deteriorating effects of hundreds of years: but it wasn’t always like this.
2020 marked the ten year anniversary of the restoration of Strawberry Hill. Following a £10 million project, funded by English Heritage and the local community, the house was unveiled to the public, restored to its original glory. Silvia Davoli, art historian and curator of Strawberry hill house, describes how ‘The house was really in danger. The timber of the roof had been attacked by dry rot, in some areas quite extensively. This is why a committee of friends of strawberry hill was formed, and that was exceptional because local people were able to attract attention to this very important monument.’.
Strawberry Hill house is indeed a very important monument with a fascinating history. Its most famous owner was its builder, Horace Walpole, the son of Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and the author of the ‘Castle of Otranto’, often accredited as the first ever piece of gothic literature. Walpole’s gothic interests are evident from the many eerie battlements, towers, and gargoyles of Strawberry Hill. As Silvia points out, however, the house has been passed through the hands of a range of fascinating figures, such as the ‘salonniere Lady Waldegrave’ to the ‘Stern family, a Jewish family of bankers’. This eclectic history explains the amalgamation of styles in the house before the restoration, from ‘a stairwell with a sky blue ceiling, in the taste of the medieval revival’ to ‘pink walls in the library’, were just a few of the house’s features.
Silvia explains, however, that ‘when conducting the restoration, the architects took the decision to bring the house back to how it looked during Walpole’s time. Although the perception of the passing of time was lost, the house is now restored to exactly how it looked under Walpole, which is amazing actually’.
Walpole’s strawberry hill was an extraordinary architectural feat; it was the first ever residential house built in the gothic style, and led to the later popularisation of the gothic revival style. Walpole’s love for collecting led him to acquire a plethora of objects and artefacts, many of which were sold at auction in 1842, and subsequently lost. When I asked about how a coherent image of the house in its original condition was formed, Silvia, recalling her time working as a researcher in the history of collecting, explains how her job was to track down where Walpole’s treasure ended up, using different sources. ‘For instance, we have the 1842 catalogue with the names of the buyers during the sale: a very important sale during the 19th century that lasted more than ten days. In addition there are Walpole’s letters, which are really extensive and the two descriptions of the villa, and its contents which he published, dating from 1774, and the other one from 10 years later. The descriptions, and also the drawings, are incredible; Walpole commissioned a man called John Carter to produce views of the room with all the objects in the house’.
‘Strawberry Hill and the Walpole collection are among the best documented 18th century houses in the world’, remarks Silvia with a casual quality. She explains that there are between a staggering ‘forty-two and forty-five volumes of letters, discussing everything from the political life of the country to detailed information about the house, its construction and the objects displayed inside’.
From the pre-restoration pictures, it is clear to see that Strawberry Hill’s eccentric white sheen, which is perhaps the most striking architectural element of the house from the outside, is missing. ‘Was the white exterior a feature of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill?’, I ask. ‘Yes it was’, replies Silvia. ‘When the huge operation of financing and fundraising began for the house, an architect was appointed for archeological research into the building and the discovery they made was linked to the white walls. While they were trying to understand the structure underneath the many restorations by later occupants, they discovered a piece of external wall that had survived, which they then analysed and reproduced on the villa.’ Silvia explained that although the white wall was a ‘lime render, typical of many houses in the British countryside, it is true that it was a peculiar choice’. It seems evident from the House, however, that Walpole and his tastes were the antithesis of mundane.
In the last eight years, Silvia has been able to retrace a vast collection of around ‘200 to 250 lost treasures: the house’s objects and works of art, which were presented in the 2018 ‘Lost Treasures’ exhibition. But as I said, it is by no means over: Walpole collected something like 6000 works of art, and so this treasure hunt is still going on, and there were objects I could not trace. The more you raise awareness, the more chance there is that someone will recognise one of these lost objects.’
‘Our desire now is to expand our narrative and interpretation of the house from the 18th century to the other occupants of the house. We are about to launch an online exhibition about Lady Waldegrave and the Stern Family, a Jewish family of bankers, who eventually bought the house from Lady Waldegrave in the late 19th century. We are also collaborating on this project with Oxford University, with the idea really to develop a wider understanding of the house.’
‘Growing up in this area, Strawberry Hill had a reputation, perhaps unfounded, as a haunted house. Would you happen to know if there’s any truth to that?’ I ask jokingly. ‘I’ve heard about that, but I think that is part of the gothic narrative, and the story of the house. One of the main things about the house is its neo-gothic features and its connection to the revival.
‘Though I spent a lot of months in the house before it was opened to the public and it was very cold sometimes. Perhaps there is some truth in that, who knows? Silvia adds in a playful manner.
The history of local monuments can often hold a far greater significance and value than initially perceived, holding thousands of fascinating stories that connect us to our past, and our local heritage, grounding a sense of community and identity. Ten years have passed since the restoration, but Strawberry Hill is far from finished; the research will continue, with a myriad of new discoveries anticipating their unearthing for years to come.
To explore the online exhibition: The unexpected jewish past of Strawberry hill house (https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/the-unexpected-jewish-past-of-strawberry-hill-house/)
To gain a deeper understanding of the restoration, Strawberry Hill, and its history:
(https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/the-house/history/restoration/)
