Tower House, Melbury Road, London, UK, completed 1877 - Purchased in 1972 by Jimmy Page
New spotlight on the current owner brings Tower House into new light.
William Burgess (1827-1881) was a 19th century architect and the foremost practioner of what is now known as "Collegiate Gothic Revival" when it appeared in the states. Credited with numerous landmark designs in the British Isles, his largest creation was a master design of Trinity College, Hartford, CT in the 1870's. Sadly the college did not have the funds to complete the full plan and local architects like Francis Kimball (1845-1919) and J. Cleveland Cady (1837-1919) were brought in to adapt the grandiose plans to a more do-able scale. While attributed to Cady, the St. Anthony Hall structure on Gallows Hill had been described by such eminent historians as long time Trinity College Professor George B. Cooper to be a building at least inspired by, if not outright designed by Burgess because of its obvious similarity to Burgess' own home Tower House.
Seeing as how the Tower House is now occupied by a famous rock star recently in the news, the best way to surmise the interior of Tower House is to look at it in conjunction with images of the related structure St. Anthony Hall. The Hall completed in 1878, is not a complete copy of Burges' home, Tower House, completed a year earlier in 1877, but the two buildings are obviously close enough in style and design that these photographs are worth examining in greater detail.
Front door to the Tower House
The Tower House in 1885
North side or back of Tower House, near Holland Park
Tower House interior, note carved woodwork
Tower House Library, note the stained glass windows
Tower House, exterior view of stained glass windows
Saint Anthony Hall, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA, completed in 1878
Front door, note the greek letters along with the key, skull, and searching eye
Stained glass window by unknown artisan, Library window, St. A's
Stained glass window by unknown artisan, St. Anthony detail in Library window
Stained glass window by unknown artisan, central window front hall, St. A's
The current owner of Tower House is Jimmy Page, guitarist extraordinaire and the recent victor in a copyright lawsuit in Federal Court in the United States when a no name band from the 1960's attempted to claim authorship of the famous song, Stairway to Heaven. After being regalled with tales of rock and roll from the 1970's, an awestruck jury quickly ruled in the defendants favor.
