Butterwick House in Hammersmith was built in the early 1700s by one Edward Ferne who added a wing for his mistress, an actress.
He was only a humble public servant but his job perhaps provided opportunities to add to his emoluments: Receiver General of Her Majesty’s Customs. After his death in 1723, Elijah Impey bought Butterwick and mucked around with it. Elijah’s son, another Elijah, became the first Chief Justice in the Supreme Court in Bengal. He was impeached along with Warren Hastings for wrongly hanging a chap, although later his judgement was upheld. His wife is remembered for inspiring the name for the Impeyan Pheasant. It’s a pity it is not included in Zoffany’s portrait, above.
In 1836 Butterwick House was partially demolished and nothing much happened until 1913 when it was rebuilt as a bus station and became Bradmore House. The Council, that these days encourages developers to build 26 storey hotels, made the bus company retain the east facing facade but allowed them to move it so that now it faces west, towards St Paul’s Church. It is a fine example of domestic English Baroque and remarkable that it has survived for three centuries on what is now Hammersmith Broadway.
A symmetrical façade of two-storeys and seven-bays. Semi-circular headed windows with multi-pane sash windows. The central three bays are taller and slightly advanced, flanked by giant stone fluted pilasters of the Composite order; the central bay again breaks forward slightly. The brick entablature (restored in 1994) is upswept; the three central bays are surmounted by a stone balustraded parapet with urns. A perron stair (added 1994) leads up to central round-arched entrance with a moulded cornice; the window above is set within a pilastered surround with a Doric frieze. The wings each have stone Doric angle pilasters. (Historic England)