FANTASTICAL/GOTHIC ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSES

       Early Modern English Country House Design           The Faerie Queene--Spenser's Romantic Epic

I have no examples of purely fantastical country houses from the period, but only some that include fantastical ornamentation such as buttresses, panelling and tracery, very tall windows--reminiscent of medieval cathedrals, entablatures (the upper section of a classical building, resting on the columns and constituting the architrave, frieze, and cornice), balustrades (a rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery), etc.

   Richmond Palace, Surrey--1501, a  a mix of the fantastical and the classic

   Burghley House, Northumberland, a mix of the fantastical and the classic

Burghley House, Northumberland, roofline--note the fantastical elaborate ornamentation

Burghley House, Northumberland, roofline detail from the roof--note the fantastical elaborateness

The Hall, Bradford--1611, a classical house featuring some fantastical/gothic ornamentation

Holland House, Kensington--1605, a mix of the the fantastical and the classic

Hardwick Hall, Derby--1590-1597, another mix of the the fantastical and the classic

Wollaton Hall & Park--1582, a mix of fantastical and classic

Wollaton Hall, detail that shows the fantastical ornamentation

Go to the classical houses page.

Go to the chivalric/heroic houses page.

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