Kenwood House
Kenwood House, also known as the Iveagh Bequest, anchors the north edge of Hampstead Heath. The core of the present building traces back to a house thought to have been built around 1616, then called Caen Wood House. In 1694, William Bridges bought the property, demolished the earlier house, and rebuilt it—while the original brick structure is believed to survive behind later façades. The transformation that defines what you see comes in the 18th century. In 1764, Lord Mansfield commissioned the Scottish architect Robert Adam to remodel the house, adding a library designed to balance the orangery, and creating an Ionic portico at the entrance to accommodate Mansfield’s book collection. Ownership changed again in the 20th century: in 1925, Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, bought the estate; he donated it to the nation in 1927. …
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