A Beginner’s Guide to Neo-Palladian Architecture

This architectural style is called neo-Palladianism, and in Britain, it reached the height of its popularity between 1715 and 1760, with a particular peak in the 1720s.

Tell-tale signs of neo-Palladian buildings are their perfect symmetry and their temple fronts (triangular roof pediments supported by columns, like in the image above). If you start looking, you will see buildings like this all over London, not to mention in other parts of Britain, in North America and in other former British colonies like India.

So, when and why did this architectural style become so popular?

 

Palladianism in Britain

Neo-Palladianism takes its name from Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), a sixteenth century Venetian architect who, like many during the Renaissance, was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman buildings. He was especially taken with ideas about proportion and symmetry, and published these in his successful 1570 publication, I quattro libri dell’architettura (The Four Books of Architecture).

His ideas first travelled back to Britain with Inigo Jones (1573-1652), an English architect renowned for his seventeenth century Palladio-influenced designs, such as the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London.

Yet Palladianism did not truly take off in Britain at this point. Its popularity was somewhat dampened by the onset of the English Civil War in 1642 and Jones’ death ten years later. Instead, the ostentatious English Baroque style took centre stage for much of the late seventeenth century.

Revival & Neo-Palladianism

Precisely how Palladianism found revival in eighteenth-century Britain (and became ‘neo-Palladianism’) is up for debate. Historians disagree about exactly who was inspired by whom and at what point in time. But what we can know is who some of the key players were.

In 1710, politician William Benson (1682-1754) designed his home, Wilbury House, in the neo-Palladian style, having seen similar architecture during a stay in Hanover while on his ‘Grand Tour’. This was a rite of passage for young aristocratic men in eighteenth-century Britain. They would travel across Europe, learning from ancient Greek and Roman culture, and return home laden with ‘souvenirs’ from antiquity. Many of these men also brought back architectural inspiration for new villas and country homes.

Benson’s Wilbury House was then featured, along with other classical-style buildings, in an architecture catalogue, Vitruvius Britannicus, compiled and published by Scottish architect Colen Campbell (1676-1729) in 1715, 1717 and 1725. Upper class subscribers would receive these volumes and then model their new houses on the latest architectural trends. The speed with which neo-Palladianism spread across Britain is often credited to Campbell’s folios.

Around the same time as Vitruvius Britannicus was making its way through high society, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) came on the scene. He had been mixing with a group of amateur architects in Oxford who were all fascinated by Palladio and ancient Rome. Boyle studied Palladio’s buildings in Italy, began collecting his drawings, and sponsored the translation of his books into English.

This interest then came to life when, between 1726 and 1729, Boyle and his collaborator William Kent (1685-1748) built one of the most recognisable and acclaimed examples of neo-Palladianism in Britain: Chiswick House.

At this point, British neo-Palladianism was truly in its heyday. The style quickly infiltrated the tightly interconnected networks of the elite and came to dominate their architecture. Our Luminaries properties are a perfect illustration of this: Chiswick House, Marble Hill House, Garrick’s Temple to Shakespeare, and Syon Park’s Great Conservatory are all examples of eighteenth-century neo-Palladian architecture.

 

Antiquity & Enlightenment

But we still haven’t answered the question of why this style became so popular. Why were the British elite so taken with the ancients and their architecture?

It makes more sense when we remember that this all happened at the tail end of the Enlightenment. Thinkers and commentators had been singing the praises of ancient Greece and Rome for more than a century. These civilisations were linked to virtue, reason, and learning. Art and culture were only worthwhile if they were linked to antiquity.

The earlier English Baroque style had become associated with Catholicism and continental Europe and was accordingly deemed unfashionable. Neo-Palladianism, in contrast, became a mark of taste and refinement. This was also a sign that Britain thought it could now rival the power of the Roman Empire.

 

Key Characteristics of British Neo-Palladian Architecture

Let’s finish by taking a closer look at some of the key characteristics of British neo-Palladian architecture. What should you be looking out for?

• Symmetry, proportion, and balance.
• Temple fronts (pediments supported by columns).
• A rusticated basement – the bottom floor has a rough, rustic appearance compared to the smooth upper floors.
• Steps leading up to a centrally placed door.
• A central dome.
• Palladian windows (also known as Venetian or Serlian windows) – a central arched window flanked by two smaller rectangular windows, often topped by pediments.
• Simple exteriors contrasted with lavishly decorated interiors.

Visit Neo-Palladian Properties

Armed with this new knowledge of British neo-Palladianism, why not see it for yourself and visit one of our beautiful historic properties?

• Chiswick House & Gardens
• Marble Hill House & Park
• Garrick’s Temple to Shakespeare
• Syon Park

Learn More About Neo-Palladian Architecture

And if you’d still like to know more about neo-Palladian architecture, check out these London Luminaries talks:

• Henrietta Howard and Marble Hill House
• Sir John Soane and Turner’s House
• Chiswick House, William Kent, and the Birth of the English Landscape Movement

Sources

Echlin, Alexander, and William Kelley. “A ‘Shaftesburian Agenda’? Lord Burlington, Lord Shaftesbury and the Intellectual Origins of English Palladianism”. Architectural History 59 (2016): 221-252, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26449106.

Fry, Carole. “Spanning the Political Divide: Neo-Palladianism and the Early Eighteenth-Century Landscape”. Garden History 31, no. 2 (Winter 2003): 180-192, https://doi.org/10.2307/1587294.

Holkham. “Palladianism for Beginners.” Last modified May 25, 2020. https://www.holkham.co.uk/palladianism-for-beginners/.

Kerley, Paul. “Palladio: The architect who inspired our love of columns.” BBC News, September 10, 2015. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34143566.

V&A. “Palladianism – an introduction”. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/palladianism-an-introduction.

Whyte, William. “What is Palladianism?” National Trust. Accessed July 27, 2023. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/architecture/what-is-palladianism