Main entry:

Dakers, Caroline.

Title & Author:

Clouds : the biography of a country house / Caroline Dakers.

Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 1993.

Description:

xviii, 278 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-273) and index.
Percy Wyndham and Madeline Campbell -- Early married life and patronage, 1860-76 -- Philip Webb: the design and building of clouds, 1876-85 -- At home -- The clouds estate and the agricultural community -- Clouds rises -- The Wyndham circle: country house patronage at clouds, Stanway and Wilsford -- Death comes to clouds, 1910-14 -- The impact of the first world war on clouds: Dick Wyndham inherits, 1914-20 -- Clouds abandoned -- From home to institution.

Summary:

"Almost before it was completed in 1886, Clouds was being described as 'the house of the age'. Designed by Philip Webb, one of Britain's greatest architects, this country house in Wiltshire was commissioned by Percy and Madeline Wyndham, an aristocratic couple with a sophisticated taste in design. In this handsomely illustrated book Caroline Dakers tells the story of Clouds: its planning and creation; the art commissioned to adorn its walls; the activities and interests of the three generations of Wyndhams who lived in it; the famous people who visited it; the sale of the house in the 1930s; and its eventual transformation into a charitable institution."--BOOK JACKET. "Dakers vividly recreates the lives and personalities of Clouds' colourful owners. Percy and Madeline Wyndham were at the heart of late Victorian cultural life, and their guests were talented writers and artists such as Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, John Singer Sargent, Leighton, Whistler, and Watts. The Wyndhams' eldest son George, Secretary of State for Ireland and tipped as a future prime minister, died tragically early at the age of 49. For his nephew, Dick, the last Wyndham to own Clouds, economic forces had turned the 'palace of art' into a vast white elephant. The unique collection of art treasures was divided and sold, the estate broken up, and the house dynamited to a more convenient size."--BOOK JACKET. "The book not only shows the significance of Clouds within the history of architecture, art, and design, but also uses the house to trace the changing relation between patrons and artists and the decline of the political and economic power of the landed class. A tale of achievement and tragedy, the story of Clouds chronicles an era of moneyed taste and leisure probably unparalleled this century."--BOOK JACKET.

ISBN:

0300057768
9780300057768

Subject:

Webb, Philip, 1831-1915 Criticism and interpretation.
Windham family Homes and haunts England East Knoyle.
Windham family History.
Webb, Philip <1831-1915> - Critique et interprétation.
Windham (Famille) - Histoire.
Windham (Famille) - Résidences et lieux familiers - Angleterre - East Knoyle.
Webb, Philip, 1831-1915 Critique et interprétation.
Windham (Famille) Résidences et lieux familiers Angleterre East Knoyle.
Windham (Famille) Histoire.
Webb, Philip, 1831-1915
Windham family
Webb, Philip 1831-1915
Wyndham Familie ca. 19.Jh.
Wyndham (Familie)
Webb, Philip.
Wyndham family Homes and haunts England East Knoyle.
Clouds (East Knoyle, England)
Clouds (East Knoyle, Angleterre)
Haus Clouds.
Buildings
Homes
Biografie
Clouds.
Landhuizen.
Patronage.
East Knoyle (England) Buildings, structures, etc.
East Knoyle (Wiltshire)
Wiltshire East Knoyle.
England East Knoyle
Clouds East Knoyle
East Knoyle Clouds.

Form/genre:

History
Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Added entries:

Webb, Philip, 1831-1915.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 111392
Call No.: ID NA7333.E28.D35; ID:94-B745
Status: Available