Holkham Hall

Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (of the fifth creation of the title). The hall was designed by the architect William Kent, with contributions from Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, the Norfolk architect and surveyor, Matthew Brettingham and Coke himself. Holkham is one of England's finest examples of the Palladian Revival style of architecture, and the severity of its design is closer to Andrea Palladio's ideals than many of the other numerous Palladian houses of the period. The exterior consists of a central block, of two storeys and constructed of brick, and four flanking wings. The interior of the hall is opulent, but by the standards of the day, simply decorated and furnished. Ornament is used with such restraint that it was possible to decorate both private and state rooms in the same style, without oppressing the former. The principal entrance is through the Marble Hall, which is in fact made of pink Derbyshire alabaster; this leads to the piano nobile, or the first floor, and state rooms. The most impressive of these rooms is the Saloon, which has walls lined with red velvet. Each of the major state rooms is symmetrical in its layout and design; in some rooms, false doors are necessary to fully achieve this balanced effect. The four pavilions at each corner of the central block provide space for private, family accommodation, a guest wing, a chapel and the kitchens. The question of who designed Holkham has challenged architectural historians, and contemporaries, almost since the time of the hall's construction. The clerk-of-works, Matthew Brettingham, claimed authorship when he published The Plans, Elevations and Sections, of Holkham in Norfolk in 1761. This claim was immediately challenged by Horace Walpole, who attributed the designs to William Kent. Brettingham's son, Matthew the Younger, acknowledged in a…