W
hen an ancient style such as English Palladianism is revived, it is the good architect���s task
to avoid pastiche and achieve full resurrection. Washington D.C. architects Franck & Lohsen meet this challenge
with their superb rendering of English Palladian proportion and detail, in a manner worthy of William Kent and
Inigo Jones, on a country villa on a gentleman���s estate in
Virginia horse country. Inside and out, this house virtually reincarnates the amazing age of the grand English
country house���the era, circa 1730���when the architectural Bible consisted of Palladio���s Four Books of Architecture and houses such as Holkham Hall and Stowe
were being built.
The domed pavilion set in a green vista; the rich mahogany bolection mouldings, the ornate gilt garlands
surrounding a mirror: Franck & Lohsen���s architectural
forms and details surpass revival���they bring the 18th
century alive in the 21st. H
By Lisa Zeiger
HYLAND
