Houghton Lodge

The antecedents of Houghton's style of architecture, known as cottage ornée, can be traced to the 'Strawberry Hill Gothic' style made popular by Horace Walpole at his fantasy castle at Strawberry Hill in the final quarter of the eighteenth century and further popularised by the writings of James Malton in his 1802 Essay on British Cottage Architecture.

Designs became more rustic, houses became lower and seemingly smaller, often at the expense of the servants comfort, as the still essential domestic quarters were forced out of sight, often underground or onto a separate wing of their own.

Houghton Lodge exemplifies this Cottage Ornée style; the principal reception rooms are placed on the ground floor, rather than on a piano nobile.

The reception rooms, typical of the style, have french windows, shaded by a verandah, allowing immediate access to the garden.

The watermeadows are designated an ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Area) and are managed appropriately, without the use of any fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides.

Houghton Lodge exemplifies the Cottage Ornée style. The reception rooms have french windows shaded by a verandah, while a servant wing ( right ) deliberately breaks the symmetry to provide informality. [ 1 ]
Many of Houghton's windows are in the exaggerated, decorative Gothic, almost Islamic, style which originated from the Walpole's Strawberry Hill Gothic.