[3] In its new listing for Heathcote, English Heritage called it a "pivotal" building in Lutyens's career, and "an imaginative and inventive essay in Mannerism".
[5] In 1906,[2] Lutyens was commissioned by John Thomas Hemingway (1857–1926), a wealthy self-made Bradford wool merchant, and his wife Emma Jane, to replace their existing villa, which was at the lower, southern end of a sloping site,[6] 4 acres (1.6 ha) in extent.
[4] The house has a three-storey central block, set back between two flanking two-storey pavilions to east and west, each with an additional one-storey outer wing.
[7] The south, garden elevation is more elaborate than the north, with wrought-iron balconies, additional setbacks in the central bay, and Doric pilasters on the flanking pavilions.
[2] English Heritage have called the south elevation a "witty reinterpretation" of Michele Sanmicheli's Porta Palio in Verona.
[13] The gardens were laid out by Lutyens,[5] with pools and parterres, and retaining walls for the terracing, including that of the central lawn.