Holcombe House

1. 5004 TQ 2293 14/11 3.2.50

THE RIDGEWAY (south-west side) NW7 Holcombe House

II*

Villa, c.1775-8 for Sir John Anderson, a City of London merchant and Lord Mayor in 1797, by John Johnson, architect. Brick faced with stucco. Two storeys. Entrance front three bays wide with central entrance defined by semi-circular porch. Rusticated ground floor with semi-circular openings either side of the entrance with a plain panel and flat-arched window set within. Three pairs of fluted pilasters above dividing three flat-arched windows; shallow modillion cornice and balustraded parapet. Garden front: 2-storey plus lower ground floor; 5 bays. Central ground floor window now used as a door. Flat-arched windows throughout, taller on the ground floor. Balustraded parapet broken by 3 flat topped dormers. INTERIOR: Elliptical entrance hall possesses cantilevered staircase with fine wrought iron 'S'scroll balustrade and moulded wooden handrail. There is fine Adamesque plasterwork in the former dining room with Grecian-style stucco figures within almond-shaped frames, and in the library. HISTORY. In 1866 the house and grounds were acquired by Herbert Vaughn, later Archbishop of Westminster, who established a missionary college there. The house was passed over in 1871 to the 'Franciscan Sisters of the Regular Third Order' who provided the corps of staff to run a school for girls. The villa now forms part of the Catholic School of St Mary's Abbey and is surrounded with later associated buildings.

Listing NGR: TQ2215193101