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London Buildings West End Winfield House
London Buildings West End Winfield HouseWinfield House
Winfield House: the residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Court of St. James's, occupies twelve and a half acres on the northwest side of Regent's Park.
The house stands behind fifteen-foot high iron gates on land that was once part of a "great forest, with wooded glades and lairs of wild beasts, deer both red and fallow, wild bulls and boars". Half a century before the Norman Conquest the land belonged to the Abbey of Barking.
The land remained rural countryside until the 19th century when John Nash was Architect to the Woods and Forests Department, and friend of the Prince of Wales, the future King George IV. With the draftsman James Morgan, Nash began an elaborate plan for the development of the whole area. It consisted of fifty-six villas and a zoo - which is still there - but by the time George IV became King, costs had sky-rocketed and only eight villas were built.
In 1936 the house was partly destroyed by fire and it was bought by Barbara Hutton. The world-famous heiress was then twenty-four years old and married to Count Haugwitz-Reventlow. Concerned about threats to kidnap their son Lance, they decided to give up their house near Marble Arch in London and look for something bigger and more secure. Three years earlier she had inherited some $40 million from her grandfather, Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth store chain.
Friends suggested that St Dunstan's Villa might be an excellent site for the kind of home Barbara Hutton was seeking. Impressed by the peace and security of the grounds, she decided to buy and on August 10, 1936 the Crown Estate Commission gave permission for the old white stucco Regency villa to be pulled down and a red brick Georgian style house built in its place.
Leonard Rome Guthrie, was commissioned to design the new house. The spacious, well-conceived ground floor plans are Guthrie's original design, although the front entrance was added in 1954. The large reception hall runs nearly the depth of the house to the French doors that open to the terrace. The drawing rooms are to the right, the family dining room, the state dining room, the kitchen and staff offices to the left.
Barbara Hutton engaged two decorators: "Johnny" Sieben, an expert on carpets and French furniture, who had renovated the Woolworth town houses in New York, and Sheila Lady Milbank, who had consulted on furnishing, colors and fabrics for the previous Reventlow London house. Oak parquet floors were laid, 18th century French paneling installed and marble bathrooms fitted. Several thousand trees and hedges were planted, a ten-foot high steel fence erected and a modern security system installed to protect the property.
The house stands behind fifteen-foot high iron gates on land that was once part of a "great forest, with wooded glades and lairs of wild beasts, deer both red and fallow, wild bulls and boars". Half a century before the Norman Conquest the land belonged to the Abbey of Barking.
The land remained rural countryside until the 19th century when John Nash was Architect to the Woods and Forests Department, and friend of the Prince of Wales, the future King George IV. With the draftsman James Morgan, Nash began an elaborate plan for the development of the whole area. It consisted of fifty-six villas and a zoo - which is still there - but by the time George IV became King, costs had sky-rocketed and only eight villas were built.
In 1936 the house was partly destroyed by fire and it was bought by Barbara Hutton. The world-famous heiress was then twenty-four years old and married to Count Haugwitz-Reventlow. Concerned about threats to kidnap their son Lance, they decided to give up their house near Marble Arch in London and look for something bigger and more secure. Three years earlier she had inherited some $40 million from her grandfather, Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth store chain.
Friends suggested that St Dunstan's Villa might be an excellent site for the kind of home Barbara Hutton was seeking. Impressed by the peace and security of the grounds, she decided to buy and on August 10, 1936 the Crown Estate Commission gave permission for the old white stucco Regency villa to be pulled down and a red brick Georgian style house built in its place.
Leonard Rome Guthrie, was commissioned to design the new house. The spacious, well-conceived ground floor plans are Guthrie's original design, although the front entrance was added in 1954. The large reception hall runs nearly the depth of the house to the French doors that open to the terrace. The drawing rooms are to the right, the family dining room, the state dining room, the kitchen and staff offices to the left.
Barbara Hutton engaged two decorators: "Johnny" Sieben, an expert on carpets and French furniture, who had renovated the Woolworth town houses in New York, and Sheila Lady Milbank, who had consulted on furnishing, colors and fabrics for the previous Reventlow London house. Oak parquet floors were laid, 18th century French paneling installed and marble bathrooms fitted. Several thousand trees and hedges were planted, a ten-foot high steel fence erected and a modern security system installed to protect the property.
