Home of Sir Joseph Paxton, 1852-65 (from when the Crystal Palace was rebuilt in Penge Park through to his death) and Sir Henry Buckland 1922-56. The dates are off the plaque and you'll note the overlap of 4 years, which we can't explain, other than to comment that it was a large house.
The large Regency mansion was bombed in WW2 and demolished in 1969. Sadly we could find no image of the house so we are showing you an 1895 map instead.
A pair of gate piers has survived, and is listed. The piers are on Westwood Hill, immediately to the left (east) of Old Cople Lane. They can be seen in and has some photos.
The reads: "Pair of gate piers. Mid C19 in Classical style. These were the gatepiers to Rockhills where Sir Joseph Paxton, designer of the adjoining Crystal Palace, lived from 1852 and died in 1865 but the main house was destroyed during the Second World War. Cast iron. Approximately 6 feet high square piers with moulded bases and cornices, fluted capitals, round-headed panels with rosette decoration, Greek key decoration above crowned by antefixae. The gates {which have not survived to 2021} of wood with cast iron spear rails are a late C20 fairly authentic copy of the originals and are not included in the listing. The gate piers are reputed to have been a gift to Paxton from Queen Victoria."
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