'Built originally by Sir Robert Walpole c.1727. The core is of white brick, three windows wide, with a canted bay in the middle. The W wing is of 1872'. (I.Nairn and N.Pevsner, Surrey, 1971, pp. 442-3).

The 'house constructed in c. 1727 possibly by William Kent. ... Externally, there have been significant alterations to the house. However, the section of elevation added by Soane, with its orginal brickwork, has survived and can still be recognised on the principal west-facing [or south ?] garden front'. P.Dean, Sir John Soane and London, 2006, p.184.

Grade II listed building, privately owned and the royal residence of Princess Alexandra. (Wikipedia)

Soane was appointed Deputy Surveyor of H.M.Woods and Forests in 1795 (at £200 a year) and hence this commission.

Jill Lever
October 2015