A Georgian country estate in west London - Osterley Park and House

Once described by Horace Walpole as 'the palace of palaces',

 Osterley Park House and Gardens, originally a Tudor mansion, was transformed into an elegant neo-classical villa by the founders of Child's Bank.  It is set in extensive park and farmland complete with 18th-century gardens and neo-classical garden buildings. 2007 saw the first phase of the garden and park restoration beginning with the recreation of Mrs Child's Flower Garden.
 
Osterley was designed and built in the late 18th century by architect and designer Robert Adam for the Child family to entertain and impress their friends and clients.. It has a magnificent interior and you can also visit downstairs to experience how domestic life used to be.

 Today the house is presented as it would have looked in the 1780s; enter the house as the family's guests would have via the impressive stone steps leading up to the portico.

 

Entrance Hall

Adam had demolished the east side of the building and replaced it with the transparent portico you see today, so he relocated the Entrance Hall further back across the courtyard. With influences of ancient Greece and Rome and a soft colour scheme of French grey and white, this room would have been used for large dinners, parties and balls, as well as an extravagant welcome to guests.

The Long Gallery

Spanning the entire length of the house, the Long Gallery is 40 metres long and on a sunny afternoon glows green and gold. It can take up to 3 days to wax and polish the entire floor! You may have seen the Long Gallery used in films such as The Young Victoria and Belle.

The Tapestry Room

The first of a series of rooms that make up the State Apartment, designed to impress and entertain important guests such as royalty. The tapestries themselves took four years to complete and contain subtle references to Mrs Child’s love of her garden and animals – see if you can spot the white rabbit and her gardening hat amongst the birds and flowers.

The State Bedchamber

Described as a mixture of a classic temple and theatrical stage setting, the magnificent eight-poster State Bed was designed by Adam to impress – and rumour has it Robert Child ripped up the bill after paying it, so no one would know just how much he had spent. Rarely slept in, if at all, Robert and Sarah Child had much more modest rooms upstairs.

The Etruscan Dressing Room

The final instalment of the State Apartment, Adam’s designs for this room were inspired by his four-year study tour of Europe in 1754-8. His designs for the walls were copied onto paper, pasted onto canvas and fixed to the walls and ceilings. However, it’s not completely perfect – if you look close enough you can find a missing part of the design.

 

 

 

Below Stairs

The ground floor would have been the real hub of the house, with staff busy making life ‘above stairs’ run smoothly. Now the corridors are quiet and the air is still. The Kitchen, Servants Hall, Stewards Hall and more all provide a glimpse into that forgotten world of scullery maids and footmen