Somerhill House (SUM-ər-hil) is a Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. The Grade I listed structure was built for The 4th Earl of Clanricarde in 1611–1613. It is built of sandstone that contains iron, which gives it a red colour. The house is in the shape of a letter "H", with the main hall forming the bar of the "H".
The building had become derelict by the mid-eighteenth century but was later restored. Somerhill was bought by a member of the Goldsmid family in 1849 and greatly extended between 1879 and 1897, making it the second largest house in Kent, after Knole House, Sevenoaks. The south wing houses the library, the second longest room in Kent at 93 feet (28 m) long, exceeded only by the Gallery at Knole House, Sevenoaks.
Somerhill House lies 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) south of Tonbridge in the civil parish of Tudeley-cum-Capel. The house shows the transition from medieval architecture, in which the hall was the main living and entertaining room, to the more modern plan, where the hall became a reception room. It is one of the earliest examples of this innovative design.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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