Strawberry Hill is Britain’s finest example of Gothic Revival architecture and interior decoration. It began life in 1698 as a modest house, later transformed by Horace Walpole, the son of England’s first Prime Minister.
Between 1747 and 1792 Walpole doubled its size, creating extraordinary rooms and adding towers and battlements in fulfilment of his dream. Strawberry Hill was a tourist site in its own day and has survived into ours, its rural surroundings gone, but its charm undiminished.
As they approach Strawberry Hill visitors will be met by the remarkable exterior, restored to its original ‘wedding cake’ appearance, lime washed in white. The castellated parapets and 3-metre high pinnacles create a dramatic and spiky silhouette.
There are 25 show rooms on the ground and first floors, 20 of which will have been fully restored to take the house back to the 1790s when Walpole had completed his creation. In addition to extensive repairs to the roof, much work has been done to repair and conserve the fabric of the building employing the same structural design as the original. Of particular note is the huge collection of renaissance glass for which Strawberry Hill is famed. Horace set up a private press, publishing historical texts and his own writings including a novel, The Castle of Otranto, considered to be the first piece of Gothic literature. Following an £8.9 million restoration with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the house is now open to the public as an extraordinary fairytale experience.