Why Did Saltram House Develop Into One Of The Most Impressive Country Houses In England Between Around 1740 And 1790?

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Between 1740 and 1790 Saltram’s Tudor core transformed into an impressive stately home. These changes were made because of 5 main contributing factors. The first of which was because of the attitudes within society and the culture at the time. I believe these were the two main factors which drove the rapid developments. The owners of Saltram were the parker family who as the developments were being done, rose in status within society. The positioning of Saltram is an indicator to the family’s high valuing of themselves. The house is built on a hill above Plymouth, this is a physical representation of the devide in social class. The house was a means in which they could show off their wealth. At the time of developments many well off people used to reflect classical architecture like the buildings built by great civilizations like Romans. Many young gentlemen would go on a tour of the continent and would view the grand architecture in places like Rome in Italy. The second John parker went on the grand tour, and elements of the style can be seen in the improvements which he made to the interior, exterior and the grounds of the house. The next two factors were the amount of connections and friends the parkers had who were in high places. They formed the means for the developments to be carried out. Joshua Reynolds a successful artist was a friend to the family, he painting many pictures depicting the parker’s in various wealthy scenes, which informed guests to the house of lord Boringdon’s affluent lifestyle. One painting depicts him leaning against a gate with a 12-bore gun in the crook of his arm, this suggests that he might have been a good shot and properly participated in pheasant shooting. They had connections with Robert Adam a designer who was an interior designer employed by the very top of the English gentry. This meant the rooms designed by him were of

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