Fetcham Park House

Fetcham Park House is a Queen Anne mansion designed by the English architect William Talman with internal murals by the renowned artist Louis Laguerre and grounds originally landscaped by George London. It is located in the parish of Fetcham near Leatherhead in Surrey.

Construction of the present mansion began in 1699, although a reference in the Domesday survey suggests that there was already then a house at Fetcham Park. The house is built of red brick in Flemish bond with dressings of Portland stone, sandstone and terracotta with a slate roof and brick chimneys. The floor plan is rectangular under a 2-span roof with extensions at both ends and an added bay to the east front. The house is constructed in two and a half storeys over cellars, with an original west front of 8 bays, with additions of 1 bay to the left and 2 bays to the right and features a mix of both mansard and gambrel roofing. It is a Grade II* listed building, the second highest ranking.

The mansion was commissioned by Henry Vincent, who inherited the estate from his father in 1697. He chose William Talman, an established architect with a reputation for his mercurial temperament, who was a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren and was in the service of King William III at Hampton Court. Before construction was complete, Vincent moved to Norfolk and let Fetcham Park House to Arthur Moore MP.

Fetcham Park House was sold to Moore for £8,250 in 1705. He invested a fortune on the house and grounds, commissioning the stairway murals and ceiling paintings by the celebrated French artist Louis Laguerre, whose work can also be seen at Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court. It was then too that Capability Brown advised on the garden design. Laguerre was born in Paris in 1663 and came to England in 1684. His father had been in charge of the royal menagerie and Louis XIV was his godfather. As well as Fetcham Park House and Chatsworth, he worked at Burghley, Blenheim, Marlborough House, Hampton Court and Buckingham House.

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