Stourhead House in Wiltshire. The Stourton family owned the estate for 700 years but in
1717 the estate was purchased by Henry Hoare, whose father Sir Richard Hoare had in 1672
founded a private bank which today trades as C. Hoare & Co. Henry demolished the original
house and employed the architect Colen Campbell to create a Palladian mansion in its place.
Work on the new house began in 1721 and it was completed in 1725. In 1902 fire gutted the
central block of the house but it was rebuilt by Sir Henry Hoare, the 6th Baronet, and his
wife Lady Alda. In 1946 Sir Henry presented the Stourhead estate, including the house
and its contents, to the National Trust, his only son having died in World War One.
Sir Henry and Lady Alda both died the following year.