Hinwick House

Standing to the north of the hamlet of Hinwick, Bedfordshire, England, the property and a manor, known as Brayes Farm, was owned by William Payne since 1617. After his death in 1624, various relatives owned the estate. By 1709, his great-grandson, Richard Orlebar, was the owner and he decided to erect a massive new home for himself and his wife, the culinary writer Diana Astry. The house was modeled on Buckingham House, which, after later modifications, became the monarch's residence, Buckingham Palace. The architect was John Hunt of Northampton. Construction started in 1709 and some work continued until 1714 when the home was occupied; the cost was just over £3,848. Between 1859 and 1860,…

Including the Victorian wing, the house includes 25797 sqft of interior space. Historic England provides this summary of the principal building: <blockquote>It is a small country house of three storeys with a U-shaped ground plan, built of limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, with a two-storey stone service wing in Georgian style to the north added by C F Penrose c 1860. The two main fronts face east and south, overlooking the main garden and park areas, bounded by stone paths in which the flags are set in diamond pattern. The remains of a C19 conservatory (largely demolished in the mid C20) lie at the south corner of the west front, including low walls, a central path and steps down to…