Macartney House

Macartney House is a house built in 1694, with substantial additions made in the mid-18th century, early 19th century, and later periods. It has an irregular plan and stands two-and-a-half storeys high, with six windows on its main west front. The facade is of multicoloured stock brick with red brick dressings and a stone-coped parapet. The ground floor and mezzanine are largely blank, with small, modern windows inserted on each level, alongside recessed panels. The second floor features recessed sash windows with glazing bars. A renewed door and fanlight are set within a wooden doorcase with sunk panel pilasters and a cornice. The five-window south return has mezzanine panels in the two left bays, featuring two long casements and a round-headed door below. The three right bays have two tall storeys with very high, round-arched windows. A heavy cornice runs along the first-floor cills, continuing around to a lower, two-storey, five-bay south wing where the fenestration has been significantly altered. An early 19th-century link connects to a later 19th-century north wing, which has also undergone fenestration changes. The park elevation displays the varying building periods more clearly: on the left is a section dating to approximately 1700, with an early 19th-century round bow added in the middle. This connects to the original 1694 house, followed by the North wing of circa 1855, with an early 18th-century wall incorporated into its lower floor. The house was formerly owned by the Wolfe family, parents of General Wolfe, the victor of Quebec. It passed to the Hon George Lyttleton, later Lord Lyttleton, in 1802, who commissioned alterations by Sir John Soane – these are not readily visible from the exterior, nor are much of them remaining inside. It is now converted into flats. A London County Council blue plaque commemorates General Wolfe’s residence at the house between 1751 and 1758.