Brantwood

Brantwood
Photograph taken from the Gondola on Coniston Water
Location	Overlooking Coniston Water, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°21′13″N 3°03′33″W / 54.3535°N 3.0592°W / 54.3535; -3.0592Coordinates: 54°21′13″N 3°03′33″W / 54.3535°N 3.0592°W / 54.3535; -3.0592
OS grid reference	SD 312 958
Built	Late 18th century
Built for	Thomas Woodville
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated	25 March 1970
Reference no.	1335727
Location in Cumbria

Brantwood is a country house in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people, including John Ruskin. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Ruskin. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and buildings in the grounds are also listed.

Brant is an old Norse word meaning "steep" and the house and grounds are situated on a steep wooded area overlooking the lake. Before the house was built the site was regarded as an "essential viewing point" for early visitors to the Lake District in the 18th century. The original house was built at the end of the 18th century by Thomas Woodville and consisted of between 6 and 8 rooms. After a number of owners, the estate and house were enlarged around 1833. In the middle of the 19th century the resident was Josiah Hudson, father of Charles Hudson who was an Anglican priest and an early mountaineer.

In 1852 the resident was the Victorian wood engraver, poet, artist, book illustrator and social reformer William James Linton who bought the house the following year. Between 1858 and 1864, while Linton was living in London, the house was let to Gerald Massey, poet and Egyptologist. Linton emigrated with his children to America in 1867. In 1869, George William Kitchin, later Dean of Durham Cathedral, took up residence at Brantwood. In 1871 the house was sold to John Ruskin who it is claimed had never previously seen it. However, Kitchin and Ruskin were friends, having met at Oxford, so it is likely he may have had some prior knowledge of the property. Before Ruskin came to Brantwood in the following year, he arranged for repairs to the house, the addition of a turret, the building of a lodge for his valet and his family and for improvements to the garden.