A short History of Huntsland House
It is thought that a house may have been on the site since the 13th Century - certainly Huntsland Barn, a remnant of the original farmstead, has parts dating back to the 16th century. Around 1811 a Regency style house was built on the site, of which parts such as the circular entrance hall and basement still remain.
An early owner was John Russell Reaves, who worked as the Chief Inspector of Tea for the East India Company in China. Like his father before him he was a keen amateur naturalist and artist, and together they commissioned over 2,000 drawings of Asian flora and fauna, the collection now being in London’s Natural History Museum. When Reaves finally retired to England he rebuilt the house in the Victorian style, and it is mainly his creation that we see today.
An early owner was John Russell Reaves, who worked as the Chief Inspector of Tea for the East India Company in China. Like his father before him he was a keen amateur naturalist and artist, and together they commissioned over 2,000 drawings of Asian flora and fauna, the collection now being in London’s Natural History Museum. When Reaves finally retired to England he rebuilt the house in the Victorian style, and it is mainly his creation that we see today.
Towards the end of the 19th century the house as acquired by Hannah Locker Lampson, the only daughter of Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, promotor of the first transatlantic cable. She married the poet Frederick Locker, who had a renowned library and was acquainted with all of the major literary figures of the day such as Dickens, George Elliot, Ruskin, Tennyson, Thackeray, and Trollope. One of her sons, Oliver Locker Lampson, was given the naval rank of Lieutenant Commander following an agreement with Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, to personally fund an armoured car squadron in WW1. The squadron was moved to the Russian front where he became entangled in Russian politics and claimed that he was asked to participate in the assassination of Rasputin, and promised to smuggle the Czar out of Russia, a promise that he was unable to keep when the Czar insisted on staying with his family.
Other owners included the Arthur Brand MP (pictured to the left) who served as a cabinet minister in the Liberal government, and Percy Barrow whose firm made luxury leather goods such as the red dispatch boxes used by the government and Royal Maundy purses. In the mid 1930’s it was run as a country house hotel.
In 1937 the house was sold to Alexander McNeill Reid, whose Lefevre art gallery in Mayfair hosted the first British solo exhibitions by Salvador Dali, Edgar Degas, Andre Derain, L S Lowry, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Rousseau, and Georges Seurat. His father, Alexander Reid was a close personal friend of James Whistler and Vincent Van Gogh, sharing lodgings in Paris with the latter. Van Gough and Reid were said to look so similar in appearance that many could not tell them apart until they spoke – indeed a book has even been published suggesting that they traded places at one point in their lives. Van Gogh painted Reid’s portrait at least twice, and one of these portraits now hangs in the Glasgow Art Gallery.
In 1937 the house was sold to Alexander McNeill Reid, whose Lefevre art gallery in Mayfair hosted the first British solo exhibitions by Salvador Dali, Edgar Degas, Andre Derain, L S Lowry, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Rousseau, and Georges Seurat. His father, Alexander Reid was a close personal friend of James Whistler and Vincent Van Gogh, sharing lodgings in Paris with the latter. Van Gough and Reid were said to look so similar in appearance that many could not tell them apart until they spoke – indeed a book has even been published suggesting that they traded places at one point in their lives. Van Gogh painted Reid’s portrait at least twice, and one of these portraits now hangs in the Glasgow Art Gallery.
In 1946 the Huntsland Estate was purchase by Captain Oscar Gross, who had founded his own shipping line. The ships in the fleet were the Huntsland, launched 1954, the Huntsville, launched 1957, the Huntsfield, launched 1958, the Huntsmore, renamed 1951, and the Huntsbrook, renamed 1951. An oil painting of the flagship Huntsland can still be found in the snooker room.
Following the death of Captain Gross’s wife, Huntsland House was sold off and passed through a number of hands until reaching its current owners, who commissioned a major restoration of the building in 2021.
Following the death of Captain Gross’s wife, Huntsland House was sold off and passed through a number of hands until reaching its current owners, who commissioned a major restoration of the building in 2021.
