Admiral's House, Hampstead

John Constable's 19th-century painting of Admiral's House

Blue plaque commemorating George Gilbert Scott who lived at Admiral's House

The house was built in 1700 by Charles Keys.[1] The house was used as a masonic lodge between 1730 and 1745, which may have been why Keys named it Golden Spikes.[1] It appeared on John Rocque's Map of London, 1746.[4] Naval captain Fountain North owned the house between c. 1775 to 1811.[1] He renamed it The Grove[1] and added a quarterdeck to the roof of the house.[1][5][6] He also added bulwarks and portholes to the property, and in 1805, bought the nearby grove and demolished it to extend the house's garden.[1] In the late 18th century, the house was mistaken as belonging to Admiral Barton.[1][7]^: 8 The problem arose because a print of The Grove was incorrectly entitled Admiral Barton’s Hampstead.[4] A possible explanation for the confusion was that Barton, who lived in Hampstead, fired cannon from his roof, and so it was assumed they were from the quarterdeck of The Grove.[1][7]^: 8 As a result, the house became known as Admiral's House,[1][6] though no admiral has ever lived in the house.[7]^: 8[8] Admiral’s Walk, the road on which the house is situated, is similarly misnamed.[7]^: 8[6]

In the 19th century, John Constable painted Admiral's House a number of times.[1][5] One painting, The Grove, or Admiral's House, Hampstead, was bought by Hugo von Tschudi for the Berlin Alte Nationalgalerie,[9] was later on display at the Tate Britain,[10] and is now in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.[6][11] The painting is believed to be the view of Admiral's House from Constable's nearby house.[11] Another painting, The Romantic House at Hampstead has been in the collections of the National Gallery.[12] George Gilbert Scott lived in the house between 1856 and 1865,[7]^: 375 although he decided that Hampstead was too cold for him.[5] In 1910, London County Council commissioned a blue plaque for Scott on Admiral's House.[6][13]

From 1917 to 1926,[4] John and Winifred Fortescue lived at Admiral's House.[6] During his time in the house, John Fortescue wrote his multi-volume book Fortescue's History of the British Army.[12] The couple moved from Admiral's House to Windsor Castle.[12] In 1941, Norman Thomas Janes produced a watercolour painting of Admiral's House that is located in the V&A Museum collections.[14] Admiral's House is believed to have been an inspiration for P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books.[15] Travers' character Admiral Boom likes to fire cannons, as did Admiral Barton, who at the time was believed to have lived at the house.[5][6] Scenes from the 1964 Mary Poppins film adaptation were filmed at Admiral's House.[16] which was used as Admiral Boom's house in the film.[17]

In 1950, the house was listed as a Grade II listed building.[4] In the 1960s and 1970s, the gardens of Admiral's House and the next door Grove Lodge were opened to the public on selected dates as part of the National Gardens Scheme.[18][19] In 1976, the brick and Portland stone boundary wall to the house was Grade II listed, in a separate listing from the main house, and including neighbouring properties.[20] In the late 20th century, windows were added to the roof, and the kitchen was extended. These changes were not included in the Grade II listing of the house.[4] Since the 1980s, Admiral's House has been owned by John Gardiner KC.[16]

In the 20th century, a wing of Admiral's House was converted into a separate house, named Grove House.[21] John Galsworthy lived at Grove House from 1918 to 1933.[16] In 2015, the owners of Grove House wanted to knock down part of the house to build an extension and 13 room basement.[16] In the 1920s, parts of the gardens of Admiral House's were sold as land for two additional houses.[4] Between 1931 and 1932, Edward Maufe built a studio next to the house.[1]

• Historic England
• Historic England (for boundary wall)