SYON HOUSE, MIDDLESEX
This is another of the houses which have been engulfed by London and yet still, astonishingly, seems to be in a rural setting, an illusion largely created by the fact that Kew Gardens and the protected Park combine to form a green oasis.
There was a convent on the site here, founded by Henry v. James i gave it to Henry Percy, Duke of Northumberland, for whom Inigo Jones made some alterations. But it was Robert Adam who, between 1761 and 1770, transformed the uncompromising fifteenth-century building into a glowing jewel box of colours and carvings and marbles. Drawing upon the deep Northumberland purse, Adam was able to indulge his passion for Roman classicism, even to the extent of importing genuine Roman antiques. The ante-chamber is like a Roman temple, complete with statues. The Long Gallery was originally Jacobean until transformed by Adam: the Hall is another Roman setting in black and white marble with the additional luxury of ivory and gold and crimson silk.