HOARE, Henry II - b. 1705 Wiltshire, d. 1785 Wiltshire

English banker and amateur garden designer. He inherited Stourhead from his father Henry Hoare I (1677-1725). Stourhead was one of the first country villas to be built in the new Palladian style. The house was designed by Colen Campbell (1676-c. 1729) for Henry Hoare I, who unfortunately died the same year in which the house was completed.

Henry Hoare II made changes to the house by rebuilding the west front to accommodate the Saloon. Henry’s love of the arts did not stop at architecture; he also had a great passion for paintings and sculpture.

The world-famous garden was designed by Henry Hoare II as a series of carefully constructed views, like scenes from a landscape painting.

He built a dam to form the lake and around it he positioned classical temples, Gothic buildings as well as rare and exotic trees. Although the garden is something of a secluded world, there are glimpses out to the wider landscape; to an estate of working farms and ancient hamlets.

Henry dominated the Hoare family through his wealth and personal charisma. He was a partner for nearly 60 years in C. Hoare & Co. His nickname, “Henry The Magnificent”, derived in part from his influence as a great patron of the Arts, but more particularly because he laid out the gardens at Stourhead in Wiltshire, an estate bought by his father.

In 1734 Henry II was elected Member of Parliament for Salisbury. He died in 1785 leaving Stourhead to the son of his daughter Anne (1734-1759), Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838).