“The perfect English country house, Came is a mid-18th Century masterpiece hardly altered in more than two centuries. Came House is not a product of different periods, it is all of a piece, the expression of a single phase of taste.”
Came House is an example of the provincial architect-builder’s capabilities in design and craftsmanship at their best
The house was built for John Damer by Francis Cartwright of Blandford in 1754, with the interior decoration of the House having been completed in 1762 by Messrs. Vile and Cobb, the London cabinet makers. They were employed for some of the decoration (including the white and gold gilt splendour of The Saloon and Drawing Room) as well as for the supply of furniture after Cartwright’s death in 1758.
In the mid-19th century a new Entrance, with porch, vestibule and cloakrooms, and the Domed Conservatory were added on the West side of the House. At the same time, a few minor changes were made and the Library was established, but the House avoided most of the more sweeping “improvements” common in Victorian times, making it a unique and lasting example of its period.
THE DRAWING ROOM, C. 1840, VIA BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE
THE DRAWING ROOM TODAY, DAVID WHEELER PHOTOGRAPHY
The house was built for John Damer by Francis Cartwright of Blandford in 1754, with the interior decoration of the House having been completed in 1762 by Messrs. Vile and Cobb, the London cabinet makers. They were employed for some of the decoration (including the white and gold gilt splendour of The Saloon and Drawing Room) as well as for the supply of furniture after Cartwright’s death in 1758.
In the mid-19th century a new Entrance, with porch, vestibule and cloakrooms, and the Domed Conservatory were added on the West side of the House. At the same time, a few minor changes were made and the Library was established, but the House avoided most of the more sweeping “improvements” common in Victorian times, making it a unique and lasting example of its period.