Thomas Cubitt
Many London-based readers of the ChimniWiki will know 'Thomas Cubitt' as the name of a pleasant gastro-pub in London's Belgravia <ref>The Thomas Cubitt - Belgravia http://www.thethomascubitt.co.uk/ </ref>. The more astute visitor to the pub will have seen the architectural illustrations on the wall are realised that Thomas Cubitt was the leading master-builder for the grand Regency housing developments laid out in parts of London during the second quarter of the 19th century.
Overview[edit]
Thomas Cubitt (1788–1855) created masterpieces of Regency housing such as Belgrave Square and Eaton Square in London, and was responsible for the master planning and design of whole sections of the City, such as Pimlico and Bloomsbury, being developed by his patron Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster. He also worked farther afield, creating huge swathes of towns like Brighton where he was responsible for initiatives such as the Kemp Town development. He came from humble Norfolk stock but his influence extended to the design of the east front of Buckingham Palace and the development of Queen Victoria's favourite bolt-hole Osborne House on the Isle of Wight <ref>Holland & Hannen and Cubitts - The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm, published 1920, Page 33</ref>. On his death, Queen Victoria was moved to write "In his sphere of life, with the immense business he had in hand, he is a real national loss. A better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed"<ref>'Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: London' by Stephen Halliday Pub. David & Charles, 1 Sep 2011</ref>.
Housebuilding[edit]
While his palace building and town planning were hugely influential, it is his influence on the development of the Regency terraced home that interests us most here at Chimni. He arrived on the London housebuilding scene at the end of the first Georgian flourish when architects like William Kent had focussed on creating an English version of Paladian Neo-Classic style (what became known as Anglo-Palladian) and applying it to large country houses like Stowe, Chiswick House and Holkham Hall. As the Georgian era drifted into its later Regency phase, Thomas Cubitt mastered how to take Anglo-Palladian house design to the masses (or at least the burgeoning upper-middle classes who wanted to spend their newly acquired mercantile wealth on a London townhouse in the style of Chiswick House).
See Also In Chimni[edit]
Is My House Georgian Anglo-Palladian Classical
References[edit]
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