SUPPLEMENT  TO  THE  « JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE ”  MARCH  14.  190:. 
Dollanb  Ibouse,  IRenstngton, 
The  Seat  of  the  Right  H©n>  the  Eapl  of  Ilehesterb 
HE  history  of  the  beautiful  and  renowned  residence 
whose  several  aspects  are  illustrated  in  the  present 
spring  number,  takes  us  hack  to  the  haloyon  days  at 
the  close  of  the  great  Queen  Elizabeth’s  long  reign- 
The ’.‘‘great  lone  Queen”  died  in  1603,  and  four  years 
later,  John  Thorpe,  the  celebrated  architect  of  the 
early  Stuart  period,  had  already  [designed  and  was 
erecting  Cope  Castle,  according  to  the  instructions  of 
she  would  not  again  marry.  But  poor  Dame  Dorothie  had  a  winsome 
heart,  and  widowhood  was  not  for  her.  She  married,  and  meanwhile 
had  to  abdicate  Cope  Castle,  but  returned  to  it  on  the  death  of  her 
second  husband.  Sir  Walter  Cope’s  daughter  and  heiress,  Isabel  Cope, 
was  the  next  possessor,  and  by  marriage  with  her  it  became  the 
property  of  Sir  Henry  Rich,  created  Lord  Kensington  in  1622,  and 
|  Earl  of  Holland  (from  Holland  in  Lincolnshire)  in  1624,  one  year  before 
the  death  of  James  I.  This  is  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  an 
■ 
THE  EAST  FRONT  :  HOLLAND  HOUSE. 
his  patron,  Sir  Walter  Cope  of  the  Strand,  “a  knyght  of  ancient 
family.”  This,  the  oiiginal  name  of  the  mansion  now  known  as 
Holland  House,  was  maintained  till  1624.  Old  Sir  Walter  had  exhibited 
splendid  taste  and  judgment  in  choosing  the  commanding  site  that 
Holland  House  enjoys,  for  not  even  the  incessant  efforts  of  the  enter¬ 
prising  builders,  whose  erections  have  now  enswathed  Holland  House 
grounds,  can  destroy  its  noble  dignity,  its  secluded  repose,  nor  its 
distant  perspectives. 
In  those  days  prior  to  the  Commonwealth,  Kensington  district  was 
varied  with  picturesque  farms,  glebe  lands,  and  orchards,  as  it  was 
indeed,  till  long,  long  afterwards.  In  his  will  the  founder  of  this  grand 
old  English  home  left  it  to  Dame  Dorothie,  his  wife,  on  condition  that 
earldom  without  a  county.  Earl  Holland,  younger  son  of  Earl  Warwick, 
was  a  prominent  Royalist,  and  paid  for  his  loyalty  in  being  beheaded 
a  few  days  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.,  on  March  9th,  1649. 
During  the  next  hundred  years  Holland  House  was  occupied  by 
various  owners,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  General  Fairfax,  one 
of  Cromwell’s  officers,  and  indeed  Cromwell  himself  lived  here.  Two 
years  after  the  accession  of  King  George  I.,  that  is,  in  1716,  Holland 
House  passed  into  the  hands  of  Addison  by  his  union  with  Charlotte, 
Dowager  Countess  of  Holland  and  Warwick.  William  Penn,  the 
Quaker,  who  founded  the  State  of  Penny lvania  in  America,  and  Van 
Dyck,  the  famous  Dutch  painter,  were  also  erstwhile  tenants.  The  social 
history  of  Holland  House,  however,  may  be  said  only  to  have  really 
