Jason Lee
AAD 202
April 22, 2008
Burlington House is a building located in the Regent Street Development on the
Piccadilly Circus in London. The house was one of the earliest large private residences
built on the Piccadilly. The first version by Sir John Denham in 1665 was a private
country lane. The building was a red-brick double-pile hip-roofed mansion with a
recessed centre the typical style of the time. The house was sold in an incomplete state in
1667 to Richard Boyle who is the 1st Earl of Burlington. Burlington completed the house
and this is how it got the name, The Burlington House. In 1704 the house was passed to
the ten year old Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, who became the principal patron
of the Palladian movement in England and an architect in his own right. James Gibbs was
hired and made exterior alterations to the house, including a semicircular Doric
colonnade.
In 1717 Colen Campbell was appointed to continue work on the building.
Campbell's work was in a strict Palladian style. He closely followed the form of the
previous building and reused much of the structure but the conventional front facade was
replaced with two storey composition. The ground floor became a rusticated basement,
which supported a monumental piano nobile of nine bays. This piano nobile had no
centerpiece but was highlighted by venetian windows in the projecting end bays. Other
alterations included a monumental gateway to Piccadilly and the reconstruction of most
of the principal interiors, with typical Palladian features such as rich coved ceilings.
On Lord Richard Boyle Burlington's death in 1753 the Burlington House was
passed to the Dukes of Devonshire. There was no need of it as they already owned a
house just along Piccadilly. Some of the interiors were then altered by John Carr in the
1770s. Eventually Lord George, who was a rich man in his own right due to a marriage to
an heiress, purchased the house from the 6th Duke of Devonshire for £70,000 in 1815. He
had some alterations made by Samuel Ware, which like Carr's work were sympathetic
with the Palladian style of the house. In 1819 the Burlington Arcade was built along the
western part of the grounds.
In 1854, Burlington House was sold to the British government for £140,000.
Originally the plan was to demolish the building and use the site for the University of
London. This plan was abandoned in the face of strong opposition by the Royal
Academy. The main building is still home to the Royal Academy. Now the east wing
houses the Geological Society of London and the Royal Society of Chemistry. The west
wing houses Linnean Society of London and the Royal Astronomical Society. The
Burlington House is best known in London as the venue for the Royal Academy's high
profile art exhibitions. Over the years many high profile British patrons have used this
building and it is still in use today.