Located on the Norfolk coast, near the village of Holkham, Holkham Hall is one of the most treasured stately homes in Britain – an 18th-century neo-Palladian country house that borrows from the Roman antiquity-style of architecture with columns and symmetrical design, though with a more austere approach than its Italian influencers.
The house as we see it today was built by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, on land that had been owned by his family since 1605. Like so many creatives of his day, Thomas Coke was inspired in his designs by what he saw on his Grand Tour of Europe when he was a teenager – a six-year trip in which he met William Kent, who shared his love of Romanesque design and was the lead architect, and probably also Lord Burlington, who introduced the concept of the four wings (which include the family quarters) and the crested towers.
Work began in 1734 and continued for 30 years. The resulting architectural masterpiece has been home to
