The Flemish Picture Gallery, the Mansion of Thomas Hope, Duchess Street, Portland Place, 1830?51, Watercolor, sheet: 23 1/4 x 32 3/4 in. (59. 1 x 83. 2 cm), Robert William Billings (British, 1813?1874), In 1799 Thomas Hope, the famous architect, traveller and collector, purchased Duchess House, London from the Dowager Lady Warwick and set about remodelling the original Robert Adam building. The first stage was finished by 1801 then, in 1819, a Flemish Picture Gallery was added to Hope's own designs, with William Atkinson acting as builder