Hampton Court Palace was the home of England's most famous king from 1529 until his death in 1547. With sixty acres of gardens and 750 acres of parkland, it was King Henry VIII's weekend and summer retreat from London. The palace was occupied by monarch's of the Stuart and Hanoverian Royal Houses up until 1737. [...]
One of London’s finest country homes is only a few miles west of central London. Chiswick House was the centre of highly select gatherings of the Earl of Burlington’s family and friends in the 1730’s. And around fifty years later it served the same purpose for the Duke of Devonshire and his sparkling (very ‘modern’) [...]
Spitalfields is in the east end of London and very close to the City of London. Its been the traditional first stop in Britain for immigrants, going back to the 1600’s, and has had its share of poverty and destitution. Today, however, the area is a melting pot of the creative industries, street art and [...]
Syon House, near Brentford, is home of the Percys, Dukes of Northumberland. It sits in a 200 acre estate on the River Thames in Middlesex. The house we see today was built by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in 1547, refurbished and enhanced by the Scottish architect Robert Adam in the 1760's and refaced in [...]
At the age of 25, Charles Dickens rented (as was normal practice of the day) a large home in Doughty Street, London. He did this, just as his writing career (under the pseudonym of ‘Boz’) was taking off. Dickens lived here happily with his wife, Catherine, and their three children. Charles and Catherine would go [...]
In Brook Street, Mayfair there is an extraordinary couple of houses - turned into a museum. Numbers 23 and 25 were homes to two musicians 200 years apart; Jimi Hendrix in London and the house of George Frideric Handel! Handel House G F Handel was born in Germany in 1685. He moved to London age [...]
The Saatchi gallery is one of London’s premier contemporary art galleries. It is based in an impressive Grade 2* listed building opened in 1801 as a school for children of soldiers’ widows. From 1892 it served as the Duke of York’s Military School and in 1911 was re-named the Duke of York’s Barracks and became [...]
Hertford House The Wallace Collection is a national museum of fine art. It is based in Hertford House, an original London townhouse from the 18th century and one of the best art museums in London, off the beaten track. The museum is situated in Manchester Square, just north of Oxford Street and has a stunning [...]
The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London is a triumph of Royal patronage, government foresight and public sponsorship spanning back to it’s inception after the Great Exhibition of 1851. We recommend the V&A for its scale, privacy (in many galleries), great restaurants and the exhibits! The Great Exhibition (in London’s Hyde Park) was such [...]
Welcome to part two of the ‘Must-see exhibits at the British Museum'! Part one was published in Americans in Town on 1 November 2018 and explored the ground floor galleries. Part two starts in Room 61 and will work clockwise around the entire first floor. Room 61 Here we find artefacts from [...]
