ALDENHAM 

 . . HOUSE, 



HERTS. 



THE, RESIDENCE 



LORD ALDENHAM. 



A l.l>l:\M \\\ IN .1 qaaint house in .1 beautiful ,. 

 /\ dignified by the presence of a stately avenue ot elm-, 



/ A some two hundred years old. leading to the front 



i * entrance, a leaiv regiment breaking tin : the 



tree-Jothed hill- towaids famous Harrow. The 

 history of the mansion is une\enUul. It was probably built 

 about 1550, has been altered by v.i :iitil little 



of the original structure remain-, and ha* never been sold, but 

 passed by marriage to the present family. There is much to 

 interest the architect and antiquary. The n >Me oak hall i- of 

 the time of Charles II., an.l the west front of the same period. 

 The house is a mixture of many styles, but the old and 

 charming Queen Anne character ha- tven well pie-ei\e.l, 

 meriting at this Jay the description Chauncy gave or it in 

 1700 *" fair house of brick." The period < :ge II is 

 Wen in the bow of the drawing-room and the library, and the 

 east front looking on the rose garden is of quite modern 

 times, about twenty-five years ago. Then- is .1 simple 

 grandeur in the entrance from the elm avenue. The red brick 

 is toned by the pleasant green of the trees, and nothing obstructs 

 the mansion with its face to the hr.ud stret.h or open land 



The garden is glorious in colour as in repose Immediately 

 against the house the quiet terrace may be gay with colour 

 from an array of begonias, fuchsias, and summer bedding plants, 



it telie-hing to w.iU through the quaint | l< ached alley 

 ot lime- to the woodland and \\ildeiness hi-yiid. u here shrub* 

 ot imp-iriance tor colour of U-al. stem, and flower are mas-e.l 

 in a hiild and piituresqu w.iy. I he planting is quite 

 modern; in truth, the gardens h.u.- been tr.in-|..rnu-d bv 

 Lord Aldenham until they may be repaid -d a- new. and 

 during the pa-t twenty \i-ais, with I. is ^ardi-ni-r-smi. the 

 H 'ii. X'ic.iry (iihb-, M.I'., he has carried on extensive and 

 judicious planting. 



Thomas Suit >n, who own<-d the estate in i;<>o, wnul.l 

 scarcely recognise in the pn-s< nt extensive and \\i-ll-planted 

 p.irk, garden, and woodland the Aldenh im ot his tar-off day. 

 The e-t;:te pa--- -d in 1614, with fi it gentleman's d.mght -r and 



to her husban.l, Henrv <'. ij'nll, in whose tamily it remained 

 until 17)4, and th^ir arms still re.iii loverthehal iio >r. Then 



it paed to Potvrl Hu. l<s, wh i ha. I married the daughter and 

 heir of another Henry ( oghill, and remained in the Hucks 

 tamily until 1814. whe.i the elder braiuh h >.mn- extinct in 

 the male line. The estate then descended to a relative 

 Miss y.yi-s and thence to the ( iihbs tamily as heirs-at-law 

 through the marriage of Antony <iiK>- urandiaiher of the li.-t 

 Lord Aldenh im) with horothea Hucks. 



It i- difficult t'> know \\lu-re to begin in a surve\ of the 

 gardens and woodland at Aldenham, \v hich Comprise upu 





1Mb KIlCHbN GAt<i 



