The entrance front of Montagu House

Montagu House (sometimes spelled "Montague") was a late 17th century mansion in Great Russell Street in the Bloomsbury district of London which became the first home of the British Museum. Bloomsbury is: An area of London in England - see Bloomsbury, London An English literary group - see Bloomsbury group A British publisher - see Bloomsbury Publishing Plc A Theatre - see The UCL Bloomsbury This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum is one of the worlds greatest and most famous museums. ...

The house was actually built twice, both times for the same man, Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu. The late 17th century was Bloomsbury's most fashionable era, and Montagu purchased a site which is now in the heart of London but which then backed onto open fields. His first house was designed by the English architect Robert Hooke, an architect of moderate ability whose style was influenced by French planning and Dutch detailing (1) and built between 1675 and 1679. It has a central block and two service blocks flanking a large courtyard and featured murals by the Italian artist Antonio Verrio, and was admired by contemporaries. In 1686, it was destroyed by fire. Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (c. ... Robert Hooke (July 18, 1635 - March 3, 1703) was one of the greatest experimental scientists of the seventeenth century, and hence one of the key figures in the scientific revolution. ... Antonio Verrio (1639-1707) was a decorative painter of Italian origin. ...

A plan of Montagu House from Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus.

The house was rebuilt to the designs of an otherwise little known Frenchman called Pouget. This Montagu House was by some margin the grandest private residence constructed in London in the last two decades of the 17th century. The main facade was of seventeen bays, with a slightly projecting three bay centre and three bay ends, which abutted the service wings of the first mansion. The house was of two main storeys, plus basement and a prominent mansard roof with a dome over the centre. The planning was in the usual French form of the time, with state apartments leading from a central saloon. The interiors, which were decorated by French artists, were admired by Horace Walpole and were probably comparable to the surviving state apartments at Boughton House in Northamptonshire, which were built for the same patron at the same time. Palladian revival: Stourhead House, South facade, designed by Colen Campbell and completed in 1720. ... Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, more commonly known as Horace Walpole, (September 24, 1717-March 2, 1797), was a politician, writer and forerunner of the Gothic revival. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants) is a county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ...

In the early 18th century Bloomsbury began to decline gently from a fashionable aristocratic district to a more middle class enclave, and the 2nd Duke of Montagu abandoned his father's house to move to Whitehall. He built himself more modest residence which was later replaced with an opulent mansion by his Victorian descendent, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch: see Montagu House, Whitehall. Bloomsbury is: An area of London in England - see Bloomsbury, London An English literary group - see Bloomsbury group A British publisher - see Bloomsbury Publishing Plc A Theatre - see The UCL Bloomsbury This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Montagu House was the name of two mansions in Whitehall in central London. ...

Montagu House in Bloomsbury was sold to the Trustees of the British Museum in 1749 and was the home of that institution until it was demolished in the 1840s to make way for larger premises. The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum is one of the worlds greatest and most famous museums. ...

References

1. Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects
Generally: David Pearce, London's Mansions.