Waddesdon Manor: A French Château in the Heart of England

From the 17th century to the mid-20th century, France led the world in art and design, and in many other fields besides. Its influence was so great that it set the tone for fashion and style across that entire period, and you can still find French style and its influence all over the world. Waddesdon Manor was built just across the Channel, in England, but that carries more weight than if it had been built on some distant continent, because the British, for political and national reasons, tried their hardest to push back against French style, without much success. One family became so identified with that style that it ended up being named after them.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) was the head of the Jewish banking dynasty that originated in Frankfurt, and the father of the five Rothschild brothers who spread out across strategic regions of Europe to expand the family business: James went to Paris, Karl to Naples, Salomon to Vienna, Nathan to London and Amschel stayed in Frankfurt. Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898), grandson of both Salomon and Nathan (his parents were first cousins), was born in Paris. After his mother, who lived in England, died, he decided to settle there himself and married her niece, Evelina. While he was looking for a place to build his home, the opportunity arose to buy the Waddesdon estate from the Duke of Marlborough (who was going through financial trouble). The estate sits in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, about 85 km northwest of London.

Ferdinand was an avid art collector, and like the rest of his family he loved French style (the Rothschilds loved it so much that they often ended up bidding against each other at auctions). It was only natural that he would build his home in that style. To do so, he brought in the French architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Alexandre Destailleur (1822-1893). The style Destailleur was asked to design in was the Renaissance architecture of the Loire Valley châteaux, with the Château de Mouchy serving as the main model.

Since Waddesdon was farmland with no existing buildings or gardens, the architect had a free hand to design the house without constraint. Construction began in 1877, after Ferdinand scaled back the architect’s original plan, ignoring his warnings that the house was too small. After about three years of dealing with difficult terrain, the house was nearly complete, while a large crew still worked on creating some of the most beautiful French gardens in England, surrounded by a sprawling English park.

The house, meant to serve as a summer home for just a few months each year, was used for entertaining and hosting guests. It was furnished with the finest 18th-century French art that Ferdinand collected over the years: decorative wood paneling from the Parisian home of the financier Pierre Dudan, a large and impressive collection of Sèvres porcelain, Beauvais tapestries, Savonnerie carpets, furniture by masters such as Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), Charles Cressent (1685-1768) and André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), paintings by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) and Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805), along with collections of clocks, drawings, books, fans and a wide range of decorative art.

The best proof that French style is the most beautiful and refined of all is the sheer number of visitors who come to see this place. Waddesdon Manor belongs to and is run today by the National Trust, and it’s considered one of the most visited estates in England, and one of the Trust’s most visited properties in particular. Because of that, the only way in is by an organized shuttle. After boarding the shuttle at the visitor center, you drive through the groves that surround the manor until it appears in full splendor. A short walk along the main path to the door takes you into the entrance hall, and from there into a sequence of rooms, each grander than the last. Unlike châteaux built up to the end of the 18th century, the rooms aren’t arranged as enfilades (room after room with no connecting corridor or hall), which gives the place a more homey feel.

A video showing Waddesdon Manor and its gardens

You start in the East Gallery, where the standout piece among the other works is the Automaton, an elaborate musical box in the shape of an elephant, done in an Orientalist style. From there you continue to the breakfast room, paneled in dark wood by the architect Jean-Baptiste Bullet, and from there into the marble hall, which leads to the formal dining room, a baroque masterpiece lined with marble walls hung with tapestries by François Boucher (1703-1770). Next comes the Red Drawing Room, named for its red wallpaper, then the Grey Drawing Room, furnished with pieces by some of the finest 18th-century artisans and with Sèvres porcelain. The Grey Drawing Room leads into the West Gallery, where a clock by André-Charles Boulle stands at the center, and right beside it is the Small Library. The original house ended there, but Ferdinand quickly realized that the architect had been right and the house was too small. So in 1889 he added an extension that became the private wing. On its ground floor sits the Baron’s Room, which served as Ferdinand’s private retreat, where he would invite his closest friends.

The house has many more rooms, all furnished from top to bottom with one of the greatest and most important collections of French art in the world. Even in Ferdinand’s own lifetime, the collection earned the house such a distinguished reputation that Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) invited herself over to see it and to get an update on the electric lighting that Waddesdon was among the first to adopt. Naturally, the room where the queen freshened up, though she never stayed the night, was named after her.

Ferdinand was a sickly man, and while he served his guests fine delicacies, he himself had to make do with a bland diet. After his wife died in childbirth, his sister Alice (1847-1922) moved in with him. When he died in 1898, since he had no children, she inherited the house. Next in line to inherit the place was her great-nephew, James de Rothschild (1878-1957), from the French branch of the family. James was the son of the well-known philanthropist Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934), and he himself was also an enthusiastic supporter of the Zionist movement. His wife, Dorothy de Rothschild (1895-1988), was one of the architects behind the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

Since James and Dorothy had no children of their own either, they decided to donate the house to the National Trust, to spare it the fate of so many English estates of that era that were demolished, their collections sold off to anyone who would buy. After James died, the process of transferring the estate and its contents to the Trust began, overseen by Dorothy, who stayed involved with the place until her death. The estate, which also includes a hotel, a restaurant, a gift shop and hosts various events, is open every day except Monday. From January through March it’s only open on weekends (check the website for updates: www.waddesdon.org.uk). You can get there by car via the M40 from London, or by train from London Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway, and from there take a taxi to Waddesdon.