Mentmore Towers
Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes,[1][2] designed the building in the 19th-century revival of late 16th and early 17th-century Elizabethan and Jacobean styles called Jacobethan.
[8] Much of the estate was sold in 1944, but the mansion, its grounds, formal gardens, several farms and the majority of the village of Mentmore remained in the ownership of Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, until his death in 1974.
Paxton was responsible for the ridge and furrow glass roof which covered the central hall, designed to imitate the arcaded courtyard of a Renaissance palazzo, while Stokes was co-architect and clerk of works.
[16] In keeping with the contents intended to be displayed within, the interiors take their inspiration principally from the Italian Renaissance, although the house also contains drawing rooms and cabinets decorated in the gilded styles of late 18th-century France.
[19] Following her death from Bright's disease in 1890 at age 39, the house became the home of her widower Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, later Prime Minister for two years from 1894.
Following the death of the sixth earl in 1974, the Labour government of James Callaghan refused to accept the contents in lieu of inheritance taxes, which could have turned the house into one of England's finest museums of European furniture, objets d'art and Victorian era architecture.
Among the paintings sold were works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Boucher, Drouais, Moroni and other well known artists, and cabinet makers, including Jean Henri Riesener and Chippendale.
[28][clarification needed] Several family portraits, sculptures and furnishing were relocated from Mentmore prior to the sale by the Roseberys to their ancestral Scottish home, Dalmeny House, near Edinburgh.
[32] Under the ownership of Halabi, the property was renamed Mentmore Towers Ltd, with the intention of converting it into a luxury hotel with 171 suites, including 122 in a new wing on the slope below the house.
[33] However, in September 2004, Jonathan Davey, a local resident, won a last-minute injunction in the High Court to halt work on the hotel while a judicial review investigated whether the planning permission granted had followed the correct procedures.
In March 2005, the High Court ruled that Aylesbury Vale District Council's decision to grant planning permission to the developers was "unimpeachable" and legally sound.
The last proposal, after the sister Piccadilly property was sold to the Rueben Brothers in 2009, was to renovate the original Mentmore Towers building and not construct the new extension containing guest-room suites, conference facilities and a large spa.
Historic England (previously English Heritage) has placed Mentmore Towers on the Heritage at Risk Register, listing it in "poor" condition with "immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric", explaining that "the service wing roof is in very poor condition and the deterioration of the main house is accelerating with areas of water ingress into the main hall and adjacent reception rooms".
[38] On 3 May 2024 Thames Valley Police posted on their Facebook page, they had responded the previous night to report of 2 people breaking into Mentmore Towers, which is becoming a regular occurrence.
[41] The house has appeared in many films,[42] including: Brazil (1985), Slipstream (1989), Incognito (1997), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Quills (2000), The Mummy Returns (2001), Ali G Indahouse (2002),[43] Johnny English (2003),[44] Batman Begins (2005), and Infinite (2021).
