Chiswick House
The Domed Saloon - Chiswick House
Formal Gardens - Chiswick House
Syon House
Flora's Lawn - Syon House
The Great Conservatory - Syon House
Osterley Park
The Etruscan Room - Osterley Park

The great houses of London spread steadily westward across the Middlesex plain. This was led by the Court but followed by wealth. It provided one of the finest concentrations of domestic architecture in England.

Chiswick House

One of the most glorious examples of 18th-century British architecture, Chiswick House was designed by the third Earl of Burlington (1694-1753). A promoter of the Palladian style pioneered by Inigo Jones, Burlington sought to create the kind of house and garden found in the suburbs of ancient Rome. To do this, he employed William Kent to design sumptuous interiors to contrast with the pure white exterior. An exhibition and video tell the story of the house, grounds and Lord Burlington, including his 'grand tours' of Europe.

As you walk through the house, take in the splendour of the Gallery with its beautiful painted and gilded ceiling, and discover the Red, Blue and Green Velvet rooms. Then step into the classical gardens - a perfect complement to the house itself. The grounds are fascinating - look for the unique statuary in the Italianate gardens and the recently restored water cascade.

Syon House

Syon House is the last surviving ducal residence complete with its country estate in Greater London. Take a look round the the Duke of Northumberland's London home, view the magnificent State and Private Apartments and enjoy the spectacular Great Conservatory and 40 acres of gardens.

Described by Sir John Betjeman as 'the Grand Architectural Walk', Syon House and its 200 acre park is the London home of the Duke of Northumberland, whose family have lived here for over 400 years. Originally the site of a medieval abbey, Syon was named after Mount Zion in the Holy Land. One of the last great abbeys to be built (founded by King Henry V in 1415), Syon was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1539.

Syon Abbey had become renowned for its spiritual learning, public preaching and library. It was favoured and visited by King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon but it got embroiled in the religious turmoil of the King's divorce and his subsequent action of making himself Supreme Head of the Church in England.

In 1547, King Henry VIII's coffin was brought to Syon on its way to Windsor for burial. It burst open during the night and in the morning dogs were found licking up the remains! This was regarded as a divine judgement for the King's desecration of Syon Abbey.

In 1594, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, acquired Syon through his marriage to Dorothy Devereux and the Percy family has lived at Syon House ever since. The 9th Earl led an extraordinary life of a true Renaissance nobleman, despite his deafness and 15 years as a prisoner. He was a friend of Sir Walter Raleigh and their interest in the New World led them to consume great quantities of tobacco and potatoes. But it was on 4 November 1605, that the Earl's fortunes declined literally overnight! A distant cousin, Thomas Percy, who was a staunch Roman Catholic, dined with the Earl at Syon before joining Guy Fawkes and his accomplices the next day, in the attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. As one of the principal 'gunpowder plotters', Thomas was shot trying to make his escape. Although innocent of the charges brought against him, the Earl was implicated through his association with Thomas and the fateful meeting at Syon. He was confined in the Tower of London for the next 15 years on the orders of King James I.

In 1750, Sir Hugh Smithson inherited the Percy estates through his wife, Elizabeth Seymour (the Percy family name had ceased due to the 11th Earl of Northumberland only producing a female heir). Proud of her ancestry, Elizabeth and her husband revived the Percy name. In 1750, Sir Hugh became Earl and then 1st Duke of Northumberland in 1766. The first Duke and Duchess of Northumberland were determined to make their mark on Syon Park; their solution was to completely redesign the estate. The Scottish architect, Robert Adam was instructed to remodel the interior of Syon House and the Northumbrian designer, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, to lay out the grounds in the fashionable style of the English Landscape Movement. Brown and Adam had more in common than just being fashionable designers; both were aspiring to create a new ideal form of an earlier time. Whilst Adam's architecture was inspired by classical Rome, so Brown took the medieval deer park as a model for an ideal countryside. Both were consciously borrowing the connotations of wealth, power and antiquity, and packaging them for their clients.

The 1st Duke of Northumberland, (formerly Sir Hugh Smithson) is also responsible for starting the Percy family's North American connections. He fathered a natural son, James Smithson. James decided that his fortune, valued in excess of half a million dollars, should be left to the 'The United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institute, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men'.

Osterley Park

Osterley Park is one of London's hidden gems. A fine Tudor house transformed into a neo-classical villa in the 18th century by Robert Adam, it is at the heart of a fine estate of woods, lakes and fields. Yet this peaceful haven is only eight miles from Piccadilly Circus and a short drive from Heathrow Airport.

With its impressive portico and stunning interior design and furniture, Osterley House offers one of the most complete examples of Adam's work. It was executed between 1760 and 1780 for the Child family, the immensely wealthy founders of Child's Bank. A 16th century stableblock also survives intact and is still in use today.

The beautiful grounds, which include formal gardens, meadow and classical garden buildings, are home to a wide range of animals and plants, including a host of unusual varieties of trees. Following the acquisition of more land around Osterley Park, work is ongoing to restore the entire estate to its 18th century glory.

The estate also includes the Jersey Galleries, which feature a programme of contemporary art from April to October and is also the base for Osterley Park's Artist-in-Residence.