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PLANS, ELEVATIONS, and
SECTIONS of KENWOOD,
AFTER TILE
DESIGNS of ROBERT ADAM.
W   HATEVER defe6ts, either in beauty or compofition,fthall be discovered
in the following defigns, they muft be imputed to me alone ; for the
noble proprietor, with his ufual liberality of fentiment, gave full fcope to my
ideas: nor were thefe confined by any circumftances, but the neceffity of
preferving the proper exterior fimilitude between the new and the old parts
of the building; and even with refpe& to this, where the latter appeared
defeaive in it's detail, I was at full liberty to make the proper deviations;
the parts of which are represented at large in the fourth plate.
EXPLANATION of the PLATES.
PLATE I.
Plan of KENWOOD
Of which the portico to the north, the great room or library, and its anti-
room, are the new additions. But as many alterations were made, and many
infide decorations added, in the apartments of the old houfe, thefe are
referved as the subjed of another number.
The great room, with its anti-room, was begun by Lord Mansfield's orders,
in the year 1767, and was intended both for a library and a room for receiving
company. The circular recelfes were therefore fitted up for the former pur-
pofe, and the fquare part, or body of the room, was made fuitable to the
latter. The whole is reckoned elegant in it's proportions and decorations, and
the cieling in particular, which is a fegment of a circle, has been generally
admired.
PLATE 1I.
View of the south Front of KENwOO), with the TERRACE and
RISING BANK.
A great body of water covers the bottom, and ferves to go round a large
natural wood of tall trees rifing one above another upon the fides of a hill.
Over the vale, through which the water flows, there is a noble view let into
the houfe and terrace, of the city of London, Greenwich Hofpital, the River
Thames, the flhips paffing up and down, with an extenlive profpedt, but clear
and diftint, on both tides of the river. To the north-eaft, and weft of the
houfe and terrace, the mountainous villages of Highgate and Hampftead form
delightful objedts. The whole fcene is amazingly gay, magnificent, beautiful,
and piaurefque. The hill and dale are finely diverlified ; nor is it eafy to
imagine a lituation more ftriking without, or more agreeably retired and
peaceful within.
The decoration beftowed on this front ot the houfe is suitable to such a
fcene. The idea is new, and has been generally approved.
PLANS,                ELEVATIONS, et
SECTIONS de KENWOOD,
1) APRf,S  IES
DESSEINS de ROBERT ADAM.
T  OUS les ddfauts, 1oit de beaut6 ou de compolition, qui pourront
fe trouver dans les deffins fuivans, ne doivent etre imput6s qu'a moi
feul; car l'illuflre propriktaire, avec la libdralit6 d'Ame qui lui elI naturelle,
m'a laiff6 donner ample cari6re admes iddes : rien ne les g~noit, ti ce n'elI la
neceffit6 de conferver i l'exterieur une limilitude convenable entre les parties
nouvelles de 1'6difice et les anciennes; et ici mme encore, ofi cos derni~res
me paroiffoient d~fedueufes dans leur d~tail, j'avois toute libert6 de m'en
6carter. Les parties d'icelles dont je me fuis fervi font repr6fentees au large
dans la quatriame planche.
EXPLICATION des PLANCHES.
PLANCHE I.
Plan de KENWOOD,
Dont le portique au nord, le falon ou la biblioth6que, et fon antichambre,
Ibnt les nouvelles additions. Mais comm plufieurs changemens furent faits
d l'ancien edifice, et beaucoup de d6corations ont 6t6 ajout~es dans l'inte-
rieur de fes appartemens, on les referve pour le fujet d'un autre cayer de
cet ouvrage.
Le falon, avec fon antichambre, fut commencd dans l'an 1767, par ordre
du Lord Mansfield, et 6toit dettin d fervir tant de biblioth~que, que de falle
de converfation. Les renfoncemens circulaires furent pratiquds pour le
premier de ces ufages, et la partie quarr~e, ou le corps de la chambre, fut
accommodde au dernier. Le tout enfemble ell comptd dlkgant dans fes pro-
portions, et dans fes embelliffemens, et le plafond en particulier, qui eft un
fegment de cercle, a 6t6 g6n~ralement admird.
PLANCHE II.
Vie de la Facade ndridionale de KENWOOD, a'ec la TERRASSE, et
fa PENTE.
Un grand corps d'eau couvre le fond, et paffe autour d'un bois naturel
et dtendu de hauts arbres qui s'elevent les uns au deffus des autres fur les
penchans d'une colline. Au travers le vallon ofi coule 'eau, on voit, de la
maifon et de la terraffe, une noble perfpedive de la ville de Londres, de
l'H6pital de Greenwich, de la Tamife, et des vaiffeaux qui la montent et la
defcendent, avec une vioe claire, diIfin6fe, et trhs dtendue, des deux cotds de
]a riviere. Au nord eli, et A l'otielt de la maifon et de la terraffe, s'offrent .i
l'oeil les beaux villages de Highgate et Hampstead, fuperbement lituds fur des
riches hauteurs. La 1fcne entidre ei d'une gaietd, une magnificence, une
beautd, et une pi6forcfque etonnantes. Les collines et les valldes fbnt admi-
rablement bien diverfifides; l'imagination mame auroit peine a fe figurer
une fituation plus riante au dehors, ou plus agreablement retirde et tranquille
an dedans.
La ddcoration donnde  t la facade do cette maifon eli affortie fi la fcane.
L'idee en eli nenve, et a 6t6 gdneralement appronvde.
AR~T
BiiRARY