Nash, John

(born 1752, London?, Eng.—died May 13, 1835, Cowes, Isle of Wight) British architect and city planner. From 1798 Nash was employed by the Prince of Wales. Acquiring considerable wealth, he built for himself East Cowes Castle, Isle of Wight (1798), which had much influence on Gothic Revival architecture. He subsequently dotted England and Ireland with castles, houses, and cottages in the Gothic or Italianate style. Regent's Park, London (1811), comprises a canal, lake, wooded area, botanical garden, and, on the periphery, shopping arcades and picturesque groupings of residences. In 1821 he began to reconstruct Buckingham House, London, as a royal palace; dismissed before completing the project, he faced an inquiry into its cost and structural soundness. Nash's East and West Park Villages, London (completed after his death by his chief assistant, James Pennethorne), served as models for “garden suburbs” of separate houses informally arranged.

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