Local history: Petersham Lodge is the beautiful Grade II listed house on River Lane in Petersham. Once encompassed by Richmond Park, it now stands in its own grounds
Over the centuries, Petersham Lodge has passed through many owners, its look and lands changing through the years.
When Charles I created Richmond Park in the 1630s, the Lodge was then known as Old Petersham Manor and became incorporated into the park. The King appointed Lord Portland to be the Keeper and Lodowick Carlell as a Deputy, who took on the lease of the Lodge.
Carlell was a well-known playwright as well as courtier. He was married to Joan Palmer, possibly the first English woman to paint professionally and whose work, The Lady in the White Dress, hangs in The Tate.
Unlike many of their fellow Royalists, the Carlells came through the Restoration period unscathed. In 1663 Carlell surrendered his lease and sold his position as Deputy Keeper to Colonel Panton. The Lodge then remained empty for many years until James II appointed Laurence Hyde, first Earl of Rochester, as Keeper of Richmond Park, who acquired the house.
In 1721 disaster struck when Petersham Lodge caught fire and was totally burnt down. The Second Earl of Rochester and his son, the Earl of Essex and their wives managed to escape. His daughter, Lady Charlotte Hyde, only managed to flee the flames by tying sheets to the window bars and letting herself down. Sadly, one of the servants was killed when he jumped out of a top floor window.
Lord Rochester sold the lease, which was eventually acquired by William Stanhope, the first Earl of Harrington. He asked Lord Burlington to rebuild the Lodge in the then popular Palladian style, which is more or less as we see it today. Lord Burlington’s most famous work was architect of his villa, Chiswick House.
Sometime in the late 18th century, permission was given to change the boundaries so that Petersham Lodge was situated outside the walls of Richmond Park. The lease was then sold to Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, in 1780, who instructed John Soane to remodel the interior of the house. He also introduced Soane to his cousin William Pitt, the future Prime Minister, which led to Soane being appointed the architect to the Bank of England.
This house again passed through many hands until 1987, when Prince Rupert Lowenstein, the financial manager of the Rolling Stones, bought it. He lived there until his death in 2014, but the house is still owned by his widow, Princess Lowenstein, who used to be friends with Princess Margaret and still holidays in Mustique.
Words: John Moses
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