Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate, located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties. This Regency house was expanded from an earlier building, and extensively remodelled in 1906 by Margaret Greville, a well-known Edwardian hostess. Her collection of fine paintings, furniture, porcelain and silver is displayed in the reception rooms and galleries, as it was at the time of her celebrated house parties. The future George VI and Queen Elizabeth spent part of their honeymoon there in 1923. The estate includes a walled rose garden, lawns, ancient woodland and landscape walks. History The name 'Polesden' is thought to be Old English. The first house was built here by 1336. Anthony Rous bought the estate in 1630 and rebuilt the medieval house. The house was owned by the Rous family until 1723, when the estate was purchased by the economist and politician Arthur Moore. An octoagonal pavilion was added to the south front at this time. In 1747 Sir Francis Geary purchased the estate, and subsequently spent his retirement there. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the poet and playwright, came to live at there in 1797 and began work to improve the building. However this effort was counter-productive and in 1818 Joseph Bonsor, a stationer and bookseller, bought the estate. He commissioned Thomas Cubitt to build an entirely new house in 1821-23, creating the core of the house seen today. Bonsor died in 1835, and the house passed to his son who, in 1853, sold the estate to Sir Walter Rockcliff Farquhar, who held it until his death in 1902. Early 20th-century The Polesden Lacey estate was purchased in 1902 by Sir Clinton Edward Dawkins, a civil servant who worked in the Colonial Office. He commissioned Ambrose Poynter, architect son of Sir Edward Poynter P.R.A., to significantly extend Cubitt's work to create the present-day house. Sir Clinton, however died in 1905, shortly after its completion. The estate was then bought in 1906 by William McEwan, for his daughter, Margaret Greville. Architects Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis, who were responsible for the Ritz Hotel in London, remodelled the house for the Grevilles. The couple filled the house with collections of fine furniture, porcelain, silver and art. Ronald Greville died in 1908 only two years after they had moved to Polesden Lacey. He was aged 46. Margaret continued to entertain lavishly at the house. She also owned a home in London in which she held expensive parties. Over the next 30 years her reputation as an Edwardian society hostess became established. Royal honeymoon at Polesden Lacey in 1923 In 1923 Margaret invited the Duke and Duchess of York to spend their honeymoon at Polesden Lacey and the royal couple subsequently spent two weeks there. Shortly before their arrival, the Illustrated London News took photographs of the house and published a large feature article about the proposed honeymoon venue. National Trust ownership