This month your cuppa for our second Tea Time Talk should be Yorkshire as Nicholas Merchant discusses the region’s most famous and prolific architect. Known as John Carr of York, he was the man to whom to turn if any of the rich Yorkshiremen of the 18th century wanted a house to show off their newly acquired wealth.

Born in the county, the son of a mason, Carr was a good solid pair of hands in which to place your aspirations for a fashionable Palladian mansion. Assiduous and attentive, he was comfortable in his career, wise enough to have a good little “sideline” in also designing bridges many of these still in use today. He had the wherewithal and knowledge to only contract with the best to fulfill the costly visions of his aristocratic clients – eg. plasterwork was by the renowned Joseph Rose and furnishings often by Chippendale. Whether it was from his masterpiece Harewood House for the uber rich Lascelles or Basildon Park closer to London though built for a fellow Yorkshireman, Carr died a wealthy man in his own right with a fortune of 150,00 pounds.

Please join us to learn about this architectural titan whose stamp continues to resonate on masterful buildings.