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Easton Neston, Northamptonshire
Architect: Nicholas Hawksmoor (c. 1694)
Model: unknown artist
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection

Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) was one of the most inventive and original architects of the short-lived English Baroque. Pupil and chief assistant of Christopher Wren, on several occasions he worked with the amateur architect Sir John Vanbrugh. Here, though, at Easton Neston he worked alone, and this, with his great London churches and the mausoleum at Castle Howard (1729-38?), reveals his genius. 

Easton Neston was designed for Sir William Fermor (1648-1711), created first Baron Lempster in 1692. A model was prepared but as built (1694-1702), the exterior of the house was redesigned in a much grander form while the interior remained as proposed here.  

Within what is essentially a wide and high box house, Hawksmoor created an exciting and dramatic sequence of spaces. At every turn, one is confronted by changes in scale and direction and contrasting areas of light and relative darkness. Almost a quarter of the space is given up to a double-height entrance hall, grand staircase and a cross-gallery upstairs. To compensate, the ends of the house contain a complex series of mezzanine floors that provide the necessary bedroom accommodation. All is characteristic of Hawksmoor, and the Baroque.