It's time to catch up with some more of my excursions over the summer..... one trip I made was to Harewood House, a stately home situated just north of Leeds. They call it 'a St Petersburg palace on a Yorkshire hill' and it does have some of that kind of grandeur. Harewood is the home of the 7th Earl and Countess of Harewood. The present Earl, George Lascelles, (b.1923) is the Queen's cousin. The house was built in the mid-18th century by Edwin Lascelles, whose wealth came from sugar plantations and the slave trade, and it has been in the Lascelles family ever since. Such a significant house has inevitably had a very interesting history. The present Earl's mother was Princess Mary (1897-1965), great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of King George V, who married Lord Lascelles and lived here from 1930 until she died.
The house sits in a huge estate which is managed very effectively, marketed as an attractive destination for tourists and family days-out and as a venue for conferences, shows and receptions. It has beautiful gardens and a long-established Bird Garden (a collection of exotic and threatened species of bird).
At first glance, I thought about a small Versailles! but St Petersburg matches as well, for the elegance and the beauty of tis palace!The relationships with the royal family makes it even more preciuous!
ReplyDeletewonderful piece of architecture and history.
ReplyDeleteWell caught. I wouldn't mind a flat in a place like this!
ReplyDeleteNot easy to capture a house of that scale so well. All the proportions are in the right place (so to speak)
ReplyDeleteIve not visited Harewood for years - may have to schedule a visit in October when we have a "Staycation" planned.
ReplyDeleteNice photo... It's always difficult to know how much of the foreground garden to add to such a great building masterpiece....looks like the original garden designer had your photo in mind when planning it !! I remember visiting Harewood house on two separate occasions with two different groups of people. I was amazed at the varieties of birds, the exterior of the building and grounds. I had the opportunity to go inside on the second visit and that was a great experience too... It must be about six years ago.
ReplyDeleteHow would it be? You say it "is the home", meaning they still actually live there, but apparently only in a small part of it if it is used for so many other things. Nicely captured and certainly beautiful I just wonder if Hyacinth Bucket "that's Bukay") ever visited there?
ReplyDeletePretty amazing to think of living in a place like that.
ReplyDeleteA very nice capture of such a stately building and grounds. Shooting it from a side angle makes it seem all the more imposing too.
ReplyDeleteA magnificent looking building and interesting history.
ReplyDeleteIf that's a house, then I live in a shack! :) As always, lovely.
ReplyDeleteHad to visit your blog - thanks for visiting mine. I was intrigued by your photos of historical buildings and read a number of your recent posts. Very interesting with the information you provided and excellent photos to accompany.
ReplyDeleteScott - it's such a huge house, the family probably live in just one wing these days. These grand houses have what are called 'state rooms' which were for entertaining. These are now open to the public, but that's only a fraction of the whole house.
ReplyDeleteWow that is one grand house. I remember Princess Mary.
ReplyDeleteFantastic composition with the beautiful garden in the foreground. This is a great photo!
ReplyDeleteWhat a grand estate, I enjoyed my visit to the link you provided. Looks like there's a special fall event planned! ~Lili
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the landscape designs / garden landscaping, was designed by Lancelot (Capabitity) Brown during the 1750s?? Nice photo by the way, and good to see historic gardens are still maintained.
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