Rising like a dazzling white fairytale castle on the banks of the River Thames, Strawberry Hill House in Southwest London is Britain’s first and finest example of Gothic Revival architecture.

Designed and built by Horace Walpole between 1749 and 1776, the house reflects the writer and politician’s vision of a 'little Gothic castle' and spearheaded a whole architectural movement.

Considered the birthplace of the Gothic novel, click or scroll to explore one of the most extraordinary historical buildings in England...

The popularity of Strawberry Hill House was a key to the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture that grew throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, taking its inspiration from cathedrals around Europe.

Also known as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic, the movement began as a reaction to the Neoclassical styles popular in the 18th century and drew on medieval architecture and Romanticism.

The house inspired many Gothic imitations, including Augustus Pugin's Palace of Westminster in London and gave the world the term 'Strawberry Hill Gothic' to describe similar buildings.

Strawberry Hill House is also the birthplace of the Gothic novel. Inspired by a nightmare he had while living here, Horace Walpole wrote The Castle of Otranto, widely considered the first Gothic novel, in 1764.

Filled with pointed arches, turrets, battlements and stained-glass windows, the villa provided Walpole with the medieval haunted house setting that would become the hallmark of the Gothic novel itself.

The huge success of Walpole's formative novel would inspire many authors including Bram Stoker (Dracula), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and the horror stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

The youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, Horace Walpole was born in 1717 and became a pivotal figure in 18th century society, literature, art and architecture.

Educated at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge from 1739 to 1741, Walpole embarked on a 'Grand Tour' of France and Italy with poet Thomas Gray, which informed his design of Strawberry Hill House.

A member of parliament for the Whig party for 27 years, he was an avid writer, leaving many works, including 7,000 letters and the tome, A Description of the Villa of Horace Walpole, which is both a catalogue of and personal reflection on the property's architecture, interior design and art collection.

It’s not hard to see why Walpole was drawn to this scenic spot by the River Thames, seen here in this 18th-century watercolour by Paul Sandby.

At the time, the 29-year-old Horace was keen to create his own country estate and snapped up ‘Chopp’d Straw Hall’, one of the last remaining sites available by the river in fashionable Twickenham in 1747.

He set about transforming what was then a couple of cottages into his vision of a 'little Gothic castle’ with pinnacles, battlements and a round tower. Thus, Strawberry Hill House was born.

Over the years Walpole doubled its size, adding cloisters, gables, turrets, quatrefoil windows and battlements and creating an asymmetrical, charming architectural cluster intended to imitate the layout of a medieval structure.

He was not alone in his endeavour and together with his friends, architect and antiquarian John Chute and designer Richard Bentley, he formed the Committee of Taste, which oversaw the design and decoration of the house and helped pioneer the Gothic Revival architectural style.

Let's take a closer look...

Central to Walpole’s house of wonders was atmosphere. Walpole wanted his new summer villa to feel like it had always been there and developed over time.

He wanted his guests to go from room to room, from dark to light, experiencing as they went an ambiance of 'gloomth', a word he coined by combining ‘gloom’ and ‘warmth’, to describe the unique aesthetic of his Gothic Revival mansion.

Seen here is the shadowy entrance hall and staircase of the property, with its skylights and solitary lantern. The patterns on the walls look carved but are an illusion of stucco work inspired by Prince Arthur’s tomb in Worcester Cathedral.

The first room encountered by visitors today is the Great Parlour in the oldest part of the house in the original Chopp’d Straw Hill. Painted in stunning powder blue, it was used for receiving guests and features paintings of Walpole’s nieces and other family members.

The furniture in the room consists of replicas. The chairs, designed by Walpole, are exact copies of the originals, which are now held by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the sofas were carefully made by students at the London Metropolitan Museum based on an 18th-century painting.

Built in 1754, Walpole’s Gothic Revival library showcases the writer's literary interests, housing an impressive collection of books and manuscripts, which at one point numbered around 7,000 volumes.

The bookcases and chimney piece were designed by John Chute based on drawings of St Paul’s Cathedral and the medieval tombs of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral.

Considered by scholars to be the first Gothic Revival library in Britain, its ceiling is decorated with heraldic emblems, mythical beasts, coats of arms and crusaders, which reflect Walpole’s love of medieval history and architecture.

With its fan-vaulted ceiling, golden canopies and crimson damask walls, The Gallery is the jewel in Strawberry Hill House’s crown. Built between 1760 and 1763, it was used for entertaining Walpole’s distinguished guests and displaying his extensive art collection.

The largest room in the house at 56 feet (17m) long, its show-stopping papier mâché and gold leaf ceiling was inspired by Henry VII’s chapel in Westminster Abbey.

The architectural use of papier mâché reached the height of fashion in the mid-18th century in England, used to great effect in this stunning state room, which poet Thomas Gray described as "...all Gothicism and gold and crimson and looking glass".

Attached to the gallery is The Tribune, named after the room in the Uffizi Palace in Florence where its finest treasures were kept. A centrepiece was a rosewood cabinet of miniatures, now housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Here Walpole kept his collection of miniature artworks, medals and enamels, including the famous miniature bronze sculpture of Venus de Medici, which have since been replaced with copies.

Created in 1761, the walls are painted with gold detail. The roof was inspired by the 13th-century York Minster Chapter House and a central star on the carpet reflects the star of yellow glass in the ceiling that throws a golden glow across the room.

As well as his vast collection of books, manuscripts and artworks, Walpole had a fascination for relics and curios. Strawberry Hill House soon became a repository for some weird and wonderful items.

Amongst them were King James I’s gloves, Cardinal Wolseley’s hat, a lock of Edward IV’s hair ‘cut from his corpse in St George’s Chapel at Windsor' and the ornate brass clock that Henry VIII gave Anne Boleyn on their wedding day, which is now part of the British Royal Collection.

Walpole had a great sense of humour once wearing this limewood cravat (pictured), fashioned by the master wood carver Grinling Gibbons, to deceive his guests. He passed it off as delicate Venetian point lace.

This is The Round Room, which sits at the end of The Gallery in the tower. This room also features a crimson silk damask wallcovering, ornate cornicing and a gilded ceiling. 

Originally intended as a bedchamber, it became an annex of The Gallery and features a stunning stained-glass window decorated in many heraldic coats of arms and portraits of great kings. 

Today, it houses a pair of coconut cups, which were part of Walpole's original collection.

This fireplace was made by influential architect Robert Adam and was said to have been inspired by the tomb of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey. It's made of Carrara marble inlaid with fine plaster to imitate other coloured stone.

At £288, equivalent to just over £61,000 ($77k) today, it was the most expensive decorative fitting in the house.

Above it is a portrait of the Percy Sisters by Van Dyck, on long-term loan to Strawberry Hill House.

Painted in a royal purple, the Holbein Chamber is an homage to Walpole’s fascination with King Henry VIII. Around the room are copies of Hans Holbein the Younger’s sketches of Tudor court, including famous figures like Thomas Cromwell and Jane Seymour.

The domed ceiling was inspired by the ceiling in the Queen’s Dressing Room at Windsor Castle and was made of papier mâché and plaster. It is significant as the original was destroyed in the great Windsor Castle fire in 1992.

Also seen here is the ornate chimneypiece designed by Richard Bentley and based on the tomb of Archbishop Warham in Canterbury Cathedral.

Horace Walpole’s cobalt blue bedroom features the original four-poster bed he inherited from his father Sir Robert Walpole, who died in 1745. Its chintz hangings were meticulously recreated between 2014 and 2019.

Above the fireplace is a portrait of Horace’s parents by Eccardt and John Wootton from around 1730. The original carved frame, which Horace believed was by Grinling Gibbons, was recycled from an earlier picture.

The replica frame at Strawberry Hill House was made from a nylon-based plastic material using three-dimensional printing.

The Green Closet is where Walpole used to write his letters and books, and houses a copy of his old writing desk. The room also features a portrait of the ten-year-old Horace painted by celebrated artist William Hogarth, who Walpole described as "a great and original genius".

It is an antechamber to the adjoining Green Chamber, which features an important velvet hanging canopy on the ceiling that is protected by English Heritage.

It was no doubt at that desk that he wrote The Castle of Otranto, Walpole’s seminal Gothic horror novel inspired by his surreal dream of a gigantic hand in armour reaching over the bannister of the uppermost landing.

The scene is enhanced by some later acquisitions, including armour that Walpole claimed had belonged to Francis I of France, which is perched in a specially constructed niche high up in the wall.

As Horace wrote: “A very little stretch of the imagination will give it all the visionary dignity of the gigantic hand in armour that I dreamt of seeing on the balustrade of the staircase at Otranto. If this is not realising one’s dreams, I don’t know what is."

As well as being written here, The Castle of Otranto was also printed at Walpole’s home. The Strawberry Hill Press, established in 1757 by Horace, was the first private printing press in England.

Pictured here is a cut out of Mr Kirgate, Walpole's librarian and chief printer. He helped produce his many writings, including his 1784 tome A Description of the Villa of Mr Horace Walpole, which provides insight and detail on the architecture and collections of Strawberry Hill House.

Even during Walpole’s lifetime, Strawberry Hill House was a tourist attraction. Although Walpole initially delighted in entertaining foreign ambassadors, English aristocracy and royalty, he became somewhat overwhelmed by the attention the house garnered.

Guided tours became the task for his housekeeper, restricted to four visitors a day and with published rules for their guidance, including no children allowed.

In a letter to friend George Montagu in September 1763, Walpole complained: "I have but a minute's time in answering your letter, my house is full of people, and has been so from the instant I breakfasted, and more are coming... Take my advice, never build a charming house for yourself between London and Hampton-court, everybody will live in it but you."

Although there are no specific details about which members came here during his lifetime, Walpole kept up correspondence with many of the British and European aristocracy. He even hosted royalty.

His letters, now available to read via Yale University online archives, reveal his numerous social connections with the upper echelons of society. And years after his death, the home is still open for visits from the public, with far fewer restrictions, we may add!

But what happened to Strawberry Hill House once Horace was no longer its keeper?

After Walpole died in 1797 with no heirs, he left the house to his cousin’s daughter Anne Seymour Damer, pictured here. She was a renowned sculptor who lived at Strawberry Hill House until 1811, when she moved back into her other London home. She died in Mayfair in 1828.

The house passed to Walpole’s great niece, Elizabeth Waldegrave, then to her grandson, John Waldegrave, who died prematurely.

His brother George, the Seventh Earl of Waldegrave, took over and a troubling time began for Strawberry Hill House...

The house and its collection very nearly met its demise. Having been imprisoned for assaulting a policeman while drunk in Kingston, George allowed the house to fall into ruin and, in need of money, arranged the Great Sale of 1842, which saw Walpole’s collection sold off over the course of a week and dispersed worldwide.

Some of these items have been borrowed or bought back by Strawberry Hill House Trust in recent times, like this goldfish bowl where Walpole’s cat Selima met her end.

However, a large number are held in America, in the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University, Connecticut.

It was through the efforts of Lady Frances Waldegrave, who had been married to both brothers John and George, that the house enjoyed something of a renaissance.

George died suddenly in 1846, leaving Frances a widow for a second time. However, her subsequent marriages to Liberal MP George Granville Vernon Harcourt and later to Chichester Fortescue, a rising politician, cemented her wealth and position in society.

When asked which day of the week she had most recently been married, she famously quipped: “Oh, my dear, I have been married nearly every day of the week.”

Under her care, Strawberry Hill flourished as a vibrant hub of society, hosting glittering soirées attended by royalty, intellectuals and politicians. Guests included the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Lady Waldegrave was such a renowned political hostess, that former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli called her: “The real leader of the opposition."

Between 1860 and 1862, she expanded the house and built a new wing. She made extensive interior improvements and changes, including installing a wooden parquet floor in The Gallery which was imported from Paris.

Nearly a decade after Lady Waldegrave died in 1874, Strawberry Hill House was acquired by banking scion Baron Hermann de Stern and his family, who brought the villa back to the forefront of social and artistic life.

When his son Herbert (pictured with wife Aimée Geraldine Bradshaw) was elevated to the peerage in 1905, he became Baron Michelham of Hellingly and the Sterns became part of the Anglo Jewish elite.

Herbert was ambitious and quickly began to make use of the house to host a series of social events.

Lord and Lady Michelham threw many lavish garden parties at the villa, where guests included the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and entertainment from Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, mime artist Malcolm Scott and even a live elephant.

The couple filled Strawberry Hill House with fine furniture and an impressive collection of art. Visitors can still see an embroidered and tented ceiling in the Moorish style in the Blue Breakfast Room (then called the Turkish Boudoir) and a pre-Raphaelite sculpture in the Exhibition room.

On the outbreak of the First World War, Lord and Lady Michelham moved to Paris. After the death of Lord Michelham in 1919, the house was sold to the Catholic Education Service in 1923.

St Mary’s University College, a Catholic teacher training college run by the Vincentian Fathers, bought the house in 1925 and it was repurposed and redecorated to meet the needs of those teaching and living there. This included turning The Gallery into a studio for art classes.

By the turn of the 21st century, Strawberry Hill House had fallen into an extreme state of disrepair and was listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of the world’s 100 most endangered heritage sites.

Since 2004 and the formation of the Strawberry Hill House Trust, the house has been lovingly restored to its original design.

Based on extensive research using diary entries, sketches, original plans and with funds from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund, Walpole’s 'little Gothic castle' has been brought back to life. It reopened in October 2010, following a £9 million ($11.4m) renovation. 

Today, the Grade II listed gardens attract as many visitors as the house itself, not least because they are free to enjoy.

Inspired by William Kent and the ideas behind the English Landscape Movement, Walpole created a romantic garden to complement his Gothic castle.

Formal borders mix with groves of trees and shrubs crossed by winding paths as well as flowers and fragrance. There was also a fine lawn, an open terrace and meadows that led straight to the River Thames.

Of significant note is Horace Walpole’s shell seat, which originally sat in a corner of the garden facing the river. It's said he was inspired by the 'shell mania'. This was an 18th-century phenomenon that saw a shell-collecting frenzy take hold of European collectors.

The Dutch East India Company, which dominated the market in imported spices and other products, began bringing exotic shells to European shores for the private museums of wealthy collectors. The trend became known as ‘conchylomania’, from the Latin concha meaning shell.

Walpole embarked on his Grand Tour in 1739 and no doubt got swept up in the trend. The replica seat, which sits facing the property today, has proved a popular Instagram backdrop for the garden's many visitors.

Despite being hidden away in Twickenham away from the landmarks of central London, Strawberry Hill House has continued to attract visitors with its compelling architecture and fascinating back story.

The museum regularly stages special events to keep them coming, like the annual Strawberry Flower Festival in June when the rooms are festooned in artistic floral arrangements like this one.

Of course, no visit would be complete without the opportunity of immersing oneself in the 'gloomth' that inspired Walpole to pen his seminal novel.

Gothic enthusiasts would do well to join the annual Halloween Gothic Tour when you can wander the house by candlelight and listen to macabre tales, including Walpole’s own nightmarish visions that led to the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. 

Just watch out for that giant hand in armour tapping you on the shoulder...

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