Strawberry Hill: Walpole's fairytale palace is restored to former glory

As the dew dries on Twickenham’s back gardens, the sun sparkles on a fairytale Gothic palace spun out of snowy sugar that appears to have landed like an alien in Strawberry Hill, just west of Richmond.
Philippa Stockley18 February 2016

It is so crisp, with towers, turrets and battlements, that you expect a medieval jouster to trot round the corner, lance in hand, or a damsel in a cone headdress to peer from a stained glass window.

Family ties: Horace Walpole, son of powerful Sir Robert, in a 1754 portrait by John Giles Eccardt
Get the look
  • Flock wallpapers by Adelphi Paper Hangings at www.adelphipaperhangings.com (USA)
  • Hand-made paper by Griffen Mill at www.griffenmillhandmadepaper.com
  • Stained glass by the Cathedral Studios at www.stained-glass-studio.org.uk
  • Architectural carving by Ben Harms at www.mastercarvers.co.uk, and Royal Warrant holder Ray Dudman at www.thomasrestorations.com
  • Lead paints hand mixed by Pedro da Costa Felgueiras at Lacquer Studios, www.lacquerstudios.com
Strawberry Hill House is at 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 (www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk)

Photographs: Kilian O’Sullivan

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