Houghton Hall, Maulden, Bedfordshire

 

 

Location: Houghton Hall farm, Maulden

 

Client: Owner

 

Status: Completed 2011

 

Project Description:

 

Houghton Hall Farm sits next to the English Heritage site of Houghton House which is the shell of a former 17th-century mansion commanding magnificent views and is set in the parish of Maulden near, Ampthill, Bedfordshire. It was built around 1615 for Mary, Dowager Countess of Pembroke, in a mixture of Jacobean and Classical styles, the ground floors of two Italianate loggias survive, possibly the work of Inigo Jones. It is a Grade I listed building, positioned high in the surrounding countryside, it is said that the house was the model for 'House Beautiful' in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

 

There were multiple gardens within the grounds, each serving a different purpose. The kitchen garden, drying yard and cherry garden were next to the service wing. Immediately surrounding the house were formal gardens in walled courts. These led to an avenue of trees surrounded by a The hunting park and gardens were integral to the design of Houghton House. An 18th-century survey depicts orchards, fields, dog kennels and bowling green in the park. artificial ‘wilderness’ with ponds and lawns.

 

Houghton Hall Farmhouse is directly adjacent to the ruins, and was first built in around 1780, although many alterations have been made to the house as recently as the 1990s, the gardens were never landscaped leaving a simple gravel driveway some mature trees and a wet poorly drained lawned area, The client requested that a new gravel driveway was to be laid including new fencing, walling and entrance gates, a new formal garden was to be installed between the drive and the lawn, retaining as many of the existing trees as possible..