We took a tour last week of Spencer House in central London. Spencer House was built by John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer; an ancestor of Princess Diana! The family still own the freehold, but the meticulous refurbishment is down to Jacob, Lord Rothschild, of the banking dynasty, undertaken during the 1980’s. It’s a Palladian villa (by John Vardy) with neo-classical interiors (by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart). It required little imagination to conjure up the scenes when the house was ‘party politics central’ of the London Whig democracy in the 1760’s. Our guide was charming, knowledgeable and experienced. View: http://www.spencerhouse.co.uk/