His son and sole heir, Captain Henry Colt Arthur "Harry" Hoare, of the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry, had died of wounds received at the Battle of Mughar Ridge on 13 November 1917 during World War I.

[8] Henry Hoare's art collection is displayed at Stourhead; his acquisitions are featured in the Palladian mansion's 'Painted Alcove' or Italian Room.

These prints are engravings of the works of the Italian masters (for example Daniele da Volterra, and Carlo Maratta) and the hand-colouring is attributed to a "Mr.

[10] Francis Cartwright, a master builder and architect, who was established as a "competent provincial designer in the Palladian manner",[11] worked on Stourhead between 1749 and 1755.

[13] During the ownership of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the mason and surveyor John Carter added an ornamental cottage to the grounds (1806)[14] and the architect William Wilkins created a Grecian style lodge (1816).

[14] In 1840, over a century after the initial buildings were constructed, Charles Parker was hired by Sir Hugh Richard Hoare, 4th Baronet to make changes to the estate.

Henry Hoare was a collector of art; one of his pieces was Claude Lorrain's Aeneas at Delos, which is thought to have inspired the pictorial design of the gardens.

Monuments are used to frame one another; for example the Pantheon[17] designed by Flitcroft entices the visitor over, but once reached, views from the opposite shore of the lake beckon.

The inspiration behind their creation were the painters Claude Lorrain, Poussin, and, in particular, Gaspard Dughet, who painted Utopian-type views of Italian landscapes.

An early feature, predating the lake, is the Temple of Flora (1744–46) which now contains a replica of the Borghese Vase modelled in Coade stone dating from 1770 to 1771.

[7] He added the library wing to the mansion,[7] and in the garden was responsible for the building of the boathouse[30] and the removal of several features that were not in keeping with the classical and gothic styles (including a Turkish Tent).