URPoint Details
Wheelchair access to ground floor only.
Fenton House dates from the 17th century and nothing is known about either the architect or the family who commissioned the building, although in the early 18th century it was known as Ostend House, suggesting that its first owner may have been a city merchant with Flemish trading connections.
The house takes its present name from a family of Baltic merchants who owned it from the 1790s until around 1830.
In the early 20th century the house was bought by Lady Binning, who on her death in 1952, left it to the Trust with her furniture, paintings and outstanding collection of 18th century porcelain.
The Benton Fletcher collection of musical instruments, which had been presented to the Trust in 1937, was brought here at the same time.
The exterior of this 2 storyed house with basement and attic with dormers is built from a deep brown brick, with rubbed red-brick window frames and quoins (a brick made for a specific space). The present entrance front to the east has only been used as such since the early 19th century, when James Fenton installed a colonnade between 2 projecting wings the original entrance was on the south, where a central door is
- Type:
- Landmark