Clouds House

Designed by Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb for Percy Wyndham and his wife Madeline, it was first completed in 1886, but an 1889 fire necessitated its rebuilding, finished in 1891.

It became a centre of social activity for the intellectual group known as The Souls,[2] and was frequented by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones and politicians like Arthur Balfour.

In 2007 the Clouds House treatment centre merged with two other organisations to form the charity Action on Addiction, which is headquartered at East Knoyle.

[6] Wyndham commissioned Webb to replace a smaller house on the site, at the head of a valley sloping down to the south-east, with uncultivated land lying to the north.

[9] An extensive service wing on lower ground to the east of the main house was attached to its north-east corner.

[12] A fire in January 1889, started by a lighted candle left at night in a linen cupboard, destroyed the house except for the external walls.

A full insurance payout enabled Wyndham to rebuild the house exactly as before, except for the addition of fireproof floors and improved plumbing.

The Ascension was a design for the Burne-Jones mosaics in St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome; repainted by the artist, it hung in Clouds over the main staircase until destroyed in the 1889 fire.

[3] He installed electricity in the house, and commissioned architect Detmar Blow to convert existing rooms into a library and a chapel.