Cedar Court (a late 17th century house) existed until 1900 when it was occupied by William John Bosworth (army tutor) and Alfred Henry Stern M.A. (also an army tutor) but was demolished in 1910-13 (letter from Wandsworth Public Library to Dorothy Stroud, 1948 in SM green box file).

The present location of the site is Roehampton Lane, London SW 15.

Initially Soane made sketch designs for a new villa but soon turned to a series of proposals in which the steeply pitched roof was reduced in height, new wings were added, the entrance hall and the saloon were re-modelled and verandahs added to front and back elevations. It is not possible to exactly know what was executed but since the building costs were over £13,000 the alterations and additions must have been considerable. In terms of interior design those for the saloon and entrance hall make interesting use of draperies and stained glass - something new for Soane and perhaps owed to Henry Hake Seward to whom the relevant drawings have been attributed.

There is a related 'perspective view of a saloon' in the V&A collectiion, see P.du Prey, Sir John Soane, Catalogues of architectural drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. p.72

Jill Lever, April 2016

Scheme

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk