Nashdom, English country house in Burnham, England.
Nashdom is a Neo-Georgian country house in Burnham, near Taplow, designed by architect Edwin Lutyens and notable for its whitewashed brick walls, a Doric colonnade, and several levels built into a slope. The building has since been converted into residential apartments and is surrounded by formal gardens, woodland, and outdoor leisure facilities.
The house was commissioned in 1905 by a Russian prince and his Scottish wife, who chose Edwin Lutyens to design it at a time when he was already a leading figure in English architecture. In 1924, an Anglican Benedictine community took over and turned it into an abbey, a role it held for several decades.
The name Nashdom comes from Russian and roughly means "our home", a reminder of the building's origins with a Russian-Scottish couple. This mix of backgrounds gives the house a character that sets it apart from other English country houses of the same period.
The grounds sit on a slope, so sturdy footwear is a good idea if you plan to walk around the gardens or woodland. The formal garden areas are closest to the main building, while the woodland requires a bit more walking.
Lutyens used the natural slope of the site to create an extra lower floor on one side of the house that is not visible from the other side. This means the building appears to have a different number of stories depending on which side you are looking at.
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