Marble Hill House

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A perfectly scaled Palladian villa on the Thames, built for Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk. Free to enter, it’s a crisp lesson in Georgian taste set within generous riverside parkland.

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Opening Hours

Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00

Wednesday: 10:00 – 17:00

Thursday: 10:00 – 17:00

Friday: 10:00 – 17:00

Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00

What's not to miss inside?

Intro Film & First-Floor Circuit

Frames Henrietta Howard’s life and the villa’s elegant plan before you tour.

Power, wit and architecture—her story is in the proportions.

After the film, note one repeated motif (mahogany, cornice, or portrait) as you loop rooms.

📍 Ground-floor orientation room → main stair

Landscape Step-Out

Pope-influenced landscape ideas survive in views and paths.

The house is a set piece; the lawn is the stage.

Stand centred on the rear axis and line up house, lawn and tree clumps for the ‘designed view’.

📍 Rear door to gardens and ice house

Volunteer Insights

Stories add people to the plasterwork.

Ask about Henrietta’s network—kings, poets, and patrons.

Pose one ‘why this room like this?’ question; note one answer you didn’t expect.

📍 In-room guides

🤓 Fun Facts

Marble Hill is the last complete survivor of a string of Thames-side villas between Richmond and Hampton Court.

Henrietta Howard—once George II’s mistress—used the house to anchor an independent life and salon culture.

The interiors showcase a costly mahogany staircase—exotic hardwoods were status signals in Georgian Britain.

Similar Museums

Historic house

Eltham Palace

Weekend Fun

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