Palladio in the Park

I rarely visit Regent’s Park, perhaps once a year to go to the open-air theatre, so I was pleased to walk through part of it on Monday on my way to luncheon in Belsize Park.

My eye was caught by six detached villas on the north-west edge of the park backing onto the Regent’s Canal. They were built in the 1980s and 90s on a strip of land vacated by Bedford College. I remember that there was much criticism of architect, Quinlan Terry’s, neo-classicism but I never took the trouble to inspect them.

Each is designed as an homage to earlier classical styles, at least that’s what you say if you like them. His critics pan them as pastiche. I admire them, although their visual impact has been diminished by some later additions of buildings for staff and cars. The villas are called Veneto, Doric, Corinthian, Gothick, Ionic and Regency. They seem to have worn well and definitely convey a sense of being trophy homes.

On my way home I walked along the canal and took these pictures of the rear of the villas in the evening sunshine.