Description

CAMDEN

TQ2686NW NORTH END WAY
798-1/8/1217 (West side)
07/09/88 Inverforth House

GV II

Formerly known as: The Hill NORTH END WAY.
Substantial house, now a convalescent home. Original house
1807, rebuilt c1895 and successively modified by WH Lever,
Viscount Leverhulme, who owned the house from 1904 until his
death in 1925. Alterations included rebuilding of central
block and addition of north and south wings to garden front
(now with C20 2nd storeys) of c1905 by Grayson and Ould of
Liverpool who also designed the terrace along the garden
front, to which Thomas H Mawson added an Ionic verandah c1910.
Terrace later altered in 1923 by Leslie Mansfield who added a
ballroom beneath it. South wing extended and remodelled 1924-5
by Mawson in conjunction with TH Mawson and Sons; library wing
added to entrance front 1913-14 by William and Segar Owen of
Warrington. Red brick; steeply pitched, hipped tiled roof to
eaves. Neo-Georgian manner with Queen Anne style wings to
garden front.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys plus roof storey and basement. North and
south wings formerly single storey. Garden front unified
horizontally by a Portland stone Ionic colonnade across the
ground floor, with three segmental projections and
balustrading to terrace. Dominant slightly projecting centre
piece of 5 bays beneath hipped roof with open segmental
pediment to central dormer. Canted bay window to 1st floor
centre bay of 3 windows wide, flanked by smaller canted timber
bay windows; 4 further windows to wings on either side. Flush
frames with small panes, some with transoms and mullions.
Stone eaves cornice. Projecting wings have brick half-columns
applied between bays, the 3 bays closest to house being
treated as an arcade with arches between piers; remaining bays
with brick architraves to 18-paned sashes. Much rubbed
brickwork; richly moulded brick cornices.
INTERIORS: richly decorated in various styles ranging from
Jacobean to William and Mary and Adamesque. Decorative
features of interest throughout the house but of particular
note are the Ionic pilastered entrance hall with carved marble
staircase, the fine Adam-style room opening onto the terrace
at ground floor level with its columnar screen and decorative
plasterwork ceiling and cornice; also the marble columned
lobby to the south of this at ground floor level and the music
room, panelled in C17 style and probably reusing some C17

woodwork, particularly in the decorative chimney-piece. A rich
architectural amalgam reflecting the tastes of a notable
patron.
HISTORICAL NOTE: following Leverhulme's death in 1925, the
house was bought by Lord Inverforth and when he died The Hill
was presented to Manor House Hospital in 1956. The gardens
were designed and laid out by Thomas H Mawson from 1906.
Further northern garden laid out during 1920s by Leslie
Mansfield. Garden west of the Formal Pond (qv) and further
northern garden, now under separate ownership and known as The
Hill Garden, North End Way; this garden is open to the public.

Listing NGR: TQ2617986676

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Inverforth House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15979023

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)