Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor
The north-facing entrance facade
Map
General information
Architectural styleNeo-Renaissance
ClassificationMuseum
AddressWaddesdon, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0JH
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates51°50′32″N 0°56′16″W / 51.84222°N 0.93778°W / 51.84222; -0.93778
Groundbreaking1874 (est.)
Construction started18 August 1877
Completed1883
Renovated1990–1997
ClientBaron Ferdinand de Rothschild
LandlordNational Trust
Design and construction
Architect(s)Hippolyte Destailleur
Website
Official website
Listed Building – Grade I
Reference no.11117804

Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, with over 463,000 visitors in 2019.[1]

The Grade I listed house was built in a mostly Neo-Renaissance style, copying individual features of several French châteaux, between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898) as a weekend residence for entertaining and to house his collection of arts and antiquities. As the manor and estate have passed through three generations of the Rothschild family, the contents of the house have expanded to become one of the most rare and valuable collections in the world.[2] In 1957, James de Rothschild bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust, opening the house and gardens for the benefit of the general public. Unusually for a National Trust property, the family of James Rothschild, the donor, manage the house. The Rothschild Foundation, chaired by Dame Hannah Rothschild continues to invest in the property.[3]

  1. ^ "ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  2. ^ Matthew Ponsford (4 October 2019). "History's riches: Inside the private collection of a Rothschild heir". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  3. ^ Jane Withers (29 January 2016). "Inside Lord Jacob Rothschild's Monolithic English Country Estate". www.vogue.com. Retrieved 25 August 2020.