A Man's Home Is His Castle Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Nonsuch Palace was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1538 as a residence for his son Prince Edward (Edward VI) to rival the grandeur "Château de Chambord" of King Francis I of France. Although depicted in paintings and prints, for the most part it remains a mystery. When Henry died in 1547 the palace was still unfinished. Over the years it changed ownership and eventually Charles II gave the property to his mistress, Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine (Baroness of Nonsuch). Sadly, she had no interest in the aesthetic or historical value and sold it off piece by piece as building materials to pay her gambling debts.

Petit Trianon was a refuge from the Court life at Versailles. When completed in 1768 Louis XV and his mistress Comtesse du Barry would often use the residence valued for its privacy. In 1774 Louis XVI gave the estate to Marie Antoinette who used it as a retreat from royal court duties. She became very fond of it and no one was allowed to enter the property without the Queen's permission. The building with it's fusion from Rococo to Neoclassical style was designed to require minimal interaction between the Queen's "inner circle" and servants.

The Hermitage resulted from one of Andrew Jackson's less successful business dealings. An unsuccessful partnership forced him to sell his plantation, Hunter's Hill, to avoid bankruptcy and Jackson purchased a smaller property. The 425 acre farm which he purchased would become The Hermitage. He built the Federal style mansion between 1819 and 1821. It later underwent renovation during Jackson's Presidency. The Hermitage is considered by many to be one of the best preserved early presidential homes.

It seems rather ironic that the home of Washington Irving, author of "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", was named Sunnyside. He purchased the property in 1835 and named his estate after a farm near Sir Walter Scott's castle in Abbotsford in the Scottish borders. Located in Tarrytown on the Hudson River, built in the Romantic style, Sunnyside included a pond, waterfall and babbling brook.

Monk's House, built in the 16th century, located in Essex, was purchased by Virginia and Leonard Woolf in 1919 at auction. After purchasing the property Virginia wrote in her diary "That will be our address for ever and ever; indeed, I've already marked out our graves in the yard which joins our meadow". Over the years the Woolf's renovated and eventually moved there permanently after their flat in London was damaged during an air raid. Monk's House was frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group and many of Woolf's works were written there.

Beehive House located in Salt Lake City, Utah was one of the official residences of Brigham Young (Second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Beehive House was built in 1854 to accommodate Young's large family. The house is an example of Greek Revival architecture, popular from mid 18th century to early 19th century, in Northern Europe, United States, Canada and Greece itself. The beehive was considered to be a symbol of teamwork, community and unity and a beehive sculpture sits prominently atop the house.

The Breakers, built in 1893-1895 as the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt in Newport, Rhode Island, became a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial distinction in the Gilded Age. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, it drew inspiration from classic Italian style of Florence and central Italy but also included an element of "humanism" centering on the importance of nature. The grounds of The Breakers include many rare varieties of trees such as weeping beeches, copper, Blue Atlas Cedar, and a "parterre" meaning "on the ground" (a constructed garden of symmetrical patterns of shrubs, flower beds, gravel, etc.) These symmetrical gardens afforded beautiful views when looking downward from the windows.

Friar Park is an Victorian neo-Gothic mansion built in 1895. Located in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the mansion was purchased by George Harrison in 1970 and became home to his FPSHOT (Friar Park Studio, Henley-On-Thames). It became headquarters for his label Dark Horse Records. The mansion boasts grottoes and underground passages. The lyrics of Harrison's song "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" were inspired by Friar Park's history. Harrison restored many of the gardens and until his death tended them himself.

Kykuit, Fallingwater, Goldeneye and Twin Palms are the more contemporary 20th century "palaces".

Kykuit, built in 1913 is the 40 room estate of John D Rockefeller located in Mount Pleasant, New York. It took six years to build in its Classical Revival (Georgian) style. The lower level of the house had tunnels and passageways interconnecting smaller houses on the property. Unhappy with some of the garden designs, Rockefeller himself took over the project. He designed strategic scenic points with winding roads and transplanted fully mature trees. Terraces, sculptures, pavilions and statues were added to the gardens with a magnificent view of the Hudson River.

Fallingwater built in 1935, by Frank Lloyd Wright, for the Kaufman family in Laurel Highland, PA, has been listed in "Smithsonian's Life List of 28 Places to See Before You Die". Built above a waterfall, it has been described as "organic architecture". Wright's design was greatly influenced by Japanese building design, harmoniously incorporating interior and exterior spaces with man and nature. Even the stone hearth of the fireplace used boulders found on the property.

Goldeneye, as you might have guessed, was the name of Ian Fleming's Jamaican estate. As a Naval Intelligence Officer in WWII, Fleming ran operations, one of which was codenamed "Goldeneye". In 1946 Fleming designed the house himself even down to the last detail--no paned windows--just typically Jamaican jalousie blinds letting the sun and breeze fill the house. The beachfront, three bedroom "hideaway" was on a cliff overlooking the beach and it became Fleming's winter retreat for almost 20 years and the birthplace of his 14 Bond books.

In 1947 after signing a contract with MGM and making his first million Frank Sinatra hired an architect to build a Georgian style mansion in Palm Springs, CA. Luckily, the architect was able to convince Sinatra that Georgian wasn't suitable for the extreme desert environment. Instead they went with a modern single story design. The four bedroom house was built with horizontal steel and aluminium lines, windows that reached the ground, and of course, boasted a piano shaped pool and two palm trees next to it. Twin Palms became symbolic of "desert modernism" popular in the 1950's.

The Hermitage, Sunnyside, The Breakers and Kykuit are all National Historic Landmarks. Fallingwater is included in The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dragonstone, Highgarden and The Twins are creations of George RR Martin. Tolkien gave us Dol Guldur, Beorn's Hall and Isengard. And, of course, Malfoy Manor and The Burrow came from JK Rowling's imagination.