Gothick Villa
THE Gothick Villa is the third and latest in a sequence of new detached villas designed by Quinlan Terry and situated on the outer circle of Regent's Park in London.
Lassmans and Savills have been instructed by the Crown Estate to market the property and are indicating a guide price of GBP6.75 million (about HK$74.5 million), excluding the contents, which are available separately.
The current development represents a major contribution to the realisation of architect John Nash's original concept for Regent's Park as a ''Rus in Urbe''.
Nash, who died in 1835, envisioned a landscape reminiscent of the English countryside, with 56 classical villas, more than a dozen terraces, and numerous other buildings including a palace and a pleasure house.
However, his scheme was halted by the government in 1826 when only eight villas had been completed, and no more were commissioned until 1988 when work on the Ionic Villa started.
The Gothick is a magnificent example of solid and ornamental architecture, and of the highest quality craftsmanship.
As with the two previous villas, the plan of the Gothick Villa is based on a classical design, in this instance Palladio's Villa Saraceno of about 1540, and reflects the Venetian precedent of a classical plan given Gothick treatment.
The use of the 18th Century ''k'' indicates that the style of the Gothick Villa is not architecturally pure.
In keeping with the spirit of Regency architecture, it draws upon a wide variety of sources.
Particularly resonant are those details inspired by Combermere Abbey in Cheshire, and by Nash's own work of 1805 at Longner Hall, Shropshire.
These include the joinery for the internal doors and the treatment of columns in the drawing room.
For more information contact Savills in Hongkong on 526-2283 or Lassmans in Britain on (071) 499 3434.
