{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O835404"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O835404/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O835404","accessionNumber":"D.1439-1907","objectType":"Drawing","titles":[{"title":"Kinmel Hall. drawing no. 234, second floor plan","type":"alternative title"}],"summaryDescription":"Kinmel Hall is a country house located near Abergele in north Wales. It is a renovation of a Greek Revival house that previously occupied the same site on the Kinmel estate. The existing house was designed by William Eden Nesfield (1835-1888) for Hugh Robert Hughes (1827-1911) and built between 1871-1876. Hughes inherited Kinmel from his uncle in 1852 and sought to enhance the estate by commissioning numerous improvements to the house and grounds. These improvements included a new stable block designed by William Burn and culminated in the ambitious expansion of the earlier house into the Kinmel Hall that exists today. Nesfield’s remodelling is dramatic departure from the mundane house Hughes inherited.\n\r\nIt has been said that Kinmel Hall has 365 windows and 52 bedrooms, making it an example of a ‘Calendar House’, a term coined by the Elizabethans and employed by the Victorians to celebrate extravagance. With over 120 rooms (one dedicated exclusively to ironing newspapers), Kinmel’s exorbitance has earned it the nickname, the ‘Welsh Versailles’. And although the house’s mansard roofs evoke the flavour of a French chateau, a closer look reveals a variety of influences. The abundance of red brick, stone window surrounds, and stone quoins are reminiscent of Hampton Court Palace—which Nesfield and Hughes visited for inspiration in 1868. However, the more minute details, such as the asymmetrical chimneys and Nesfield’s generous application of his characteristic sunflower motifs, reveal the house’s underlying connection to the ‘Queen Anne’ movement. After being sold by the Hughes family in 1929, Kinmel Hall has served as a rheumatic spa, hospital, and school. A fire caused extensive damage to the chapel and upper floor in 1977, and the house has changed ownership numerous times since. In 2015, the Victorian Society placed the now-derelict Kinmel Hall on its list of the top ten at-risk Victorian and Edwardian buildings in the UK; its future remains uncertain.\n\nThe sheet conains a floor plan with seven rooms labelled 'Bedroom', four rooms labelled 'Young Ladies’ Bedroom', one 'Night Nursery', one 'Day Nursery', one 'Spare or Sickroom', and four rooms labelled 'Dressing Room' adjacent to the largest bedrooms. Secondary rooms include what appears to be six water closets, though not all are labelled, and other unlabelled storage spaces. The primary rooms are numbered 2-18, with the 'Spare or Sickroom' omitted from numbering, unlike in drawing No. 219 (D.1438-1907). Rooms for men and women are on separate parts of the floor, per Victorian design norms.","physicalDescription":"Finished drawing that contains a plan of the second floor and a smaller elevation of a window (labeled \"Window at A\"). The original paper is heavily deteriorated and has been placed on a new paper backing. This damage has resulted in a loss of the original drawing tag, which noted the drawing type and number. (These items have been written in using pencil at a later date). The plan is neatly drawn and coloured, with watercolours denoting wall types and different materials. An 8' = 1\" scale is located at the bottom of the sheet; the drawing does not contain dimensions.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Nesfield, William Eden","id":"A8691"},"association":{"text":"architect","id":"THES265157"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"x32498"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Ink and watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Architectural drawings","id":"THES274432"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"DR","shelf":"61","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"drawing","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"01/10/1872","earliest":"1872-10-01","latest":"1872-10-01"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"50.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"73.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"\"No. 234\"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed in pencil at top-left of sheet."},{"content":"\"W. Eden Nesfield, 30 Argyll St\"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed in ink at bottom-right of sheet. Note that other drawing labels have been lost from deterioration."}],"objectHistory":"Donated to the V&A in 1907 as part of the Phené Spiers Collection of Architectural Drawings.","historicalContext":"This is a copy of drawing no. 210 (D.1439-1907). This sheet could be used in conjunction with all other plan drawings from D.1434-1907 - D.1441-1907.","briefDescription":"Architectural drawing by W. E. Nesfield for Kinmel Hall, drawing no. 234, plan of second floor and window elevation, Flintshire, for H. R. Hughes, 1872, ink and watercolour on paper, London","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Girouard, Mark. <u>Sweetness and Light: </u><u>The Queen Anne Movement, 1860-1900.</u> New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977","id":"AUTH352825"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Girouard, Mark. <u>The Victorian Country House</u>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979.","id":"AUTH352830"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Hubbard, Edward. <u>The Buildings of Wales: Clwyd</u>. Harmondsworth: University of Wales Press, 1986.","id":"AUTH352836"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Muthesius, Stefan. <u>The High Victorian Movement in Architecture: 1850-1870</u>. London: Routledge & Paul, 1972.","id":"AUTH352838"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography","id":"AUTH352820"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[{"text":"Conwy","id":"x31148"}],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Hughes, Hugh Robert","id":"AUTH352628"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["D.1439-1907"],"accessionNumberNum":"1439","accessionNumberPrefix":"D","accessionYear":1907,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-07","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}