Hylands House is a Grade II* neo-classical villa situated within Hylands Park a 232-hectare (574 acre) park southwest of Chelmsford in Essex in South East England. It is owned and operated by Chelmsford City Council. History The last private owner lived in Hylands House until her death in 1962. It was in 1966, with the house in a desperate state of disrepair, that Chelmsford Borough Council purchased the Park for the people of Chelmsford to enjoy. Hylands Park was opened to the public only 10 days later. It was agreed by Chelmsford Borough Council that Hylands House should be restored to its former glory and having stood empty for 20 years, the first phase of restoration took place in 1986. The final stage was completed in September 2005. Past owners of Hylands House Sir John Comyns 1730–1740 Around 1726, a local and well-respected lawyer, Sir John Comyns, purchased the manor of Shaxstones in Writtle, and commissioned the construction of a new family home on the estate, suitable for a man of his standing. Completed in 1730, Hylands House was an elegant two-storey red brick building in Queen Anne style architecture. The grounds were set out in the formal geometric style fashionable at the time, with a pleasure garden and small kitchen garden to the north of the house. John Comyns 1740–1760 & John Richard Comyns 1760–1797 Sir John Comyns died in 1740, without surviving children, and left the estate to his nephew, John Comyns of Romford. In 1759, John Comyns commissioned a monument to the life of his beloved uncle, which can be seen at the family vault in Writtle Church. John in turn left Hylands to his son, John Richard Comyns in 1760. Cornelius Kortright 1797–1814 In 1797 Cornelius Kortright purchased Hylands House and employed the well-known landscape architect Humphry Repton, who set about redesigning the gardens. Kortright planned to add the east and west wings, a colonnaded portico and cover the whole house in white stucco. Kortright purchased an additional 150 acres of land to accommodate the scheme and by 1814 the changes made to the estate were extensive. However, despite the grand plans, Kortright did not see the House through to completion as his ever-increasing family required them to relocate to a much larger residence, in nearby Fryerning. Pierre Cesar Labouchere 1814–1839 Pierre Cesar Labouchere, a Dutch-born merchant banker, purchased the estate in 1814 and set about