Having been imprisoned for ‘riotous behaviour’, George took against Twickenham and vowed to let the House fall into ruin. It was now that the House nearly met its demise. John died prematurely, passing the house to his brother, George, the Seventh Earl of Waldegrave. In 1811, the House passed to Walpole’s great niece, Elizabeth Waldegrave, and then to her grandson, John Waldegrave. Largely designed by Walpole’s friends, otherwise known as the ‘Committee of Taste’, which comprised John Chute and Richard Bentley, chimney pieces, doors and ceilings were based on gothic vaulting, medieval tombs and rose windows: ‘all Gothicism, gold and looking glass’ as the poet Thomas Gray described it.įollowing Walpole’s death in 1797 the House passed to his cousin’s daughter and renowned sculptor Anne Seymour Damer. The popularity of Strawberry Hill House was a key contributing factor in the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture that grew throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries, taking its inspiration from gothic cathedrals around Europe.
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