Stanwick Hall

Stanwick St. John, near Darlington, Yorkshire

Built from 1739, for Hugh Percy (1714-1786), 1st Duke of Northumberland, as an alternative home to his family's ancient ancestral seat, Alnwick Castle. In time it became the house into which the Dowager Duchess' were moved when their sons succeeded to Alnwick. The original architect is unknown but is thought to have worked closely with Percy, a patron of the arts known also for Syon House. Before it was demolished in 1923, some of its interiors were salvaged and retrofitted elsewhere. William Randolph Hearst purchased at least one of the rooms and among the houses considered to have other Stanwick rooms are Clayton on Long Island; The Grange in Toronto; an unspecified office in Manhattan; and, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts....

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Various improvements were carried out from 1870 by the 4th Dowager Duchess including the addition of the Italian garden by Salvin. Her greenhouses gained some renown in producing exotic fruits otherwise unheard of such as bananas, peaches, grapes, figs and nectarines. She died here in 1911 and the house was converted into a hospital a few laters for the duration of World War I. The war ended in the same year that the 7th Duke died and facing crippling death duties the estate was sold and the house was demolished.