Chiswick House & Gardens
/ About
Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington, and his friend William Kent made Chiswick House and its gardens between 1725 and about 1738, having returned from the Grand Tour with no appetite for the Baroque then fashionable in England. What they built instead was a symmetrical villa on classical Italian lines and, around it, a landscape loose enough to look unplanned. The gardens are where the English Landscape Movement begins, and their influence runs from Blenheim to Central Park. The estate later passed to the Dukes of Devonshire, and Edward, Prince of Wales, rented the house and held garden parties here for his mother, Queen Victoria.
Sixty-five acres survive, Grade I listed and cared for by an independent trust formed after a restoration that finished in 2010. Inside the villa, the domed Upper Tribune takes ceremonies and round-table dinners beneath its busts and paintings, while the gallery rooms and the Blue, Red and Green Velvet Rooms hold smaller parties among the collection. Outside, both courtyards are licensed for civil ceremonies, the House Forecourt setting the villa's facade behind the aisle. The Garden Pavilion is the large room: a semi-permanent structure with an ivory lining and chandelier lighting, hired as a blank canvas from March to October.
The walled Kitchen Garden, planted for cutting and for fruit, takes the largest standing receptions, and the Garden Studios are a newer indoor-outdoor pair beside it, built for away-days and intimate weddings. Create is the exclusive kitchen. Exclusive hire gives the run of the whole estate, house and grounds together, and every booking funds a charity that is three-quarters visitor and supporter funded. The house doubles as a film location between times, most recently for Bridgerton and The Sandman.
/ Rooms Available
The Garden Pavilion
Exclusive HireA semi-permanent pavilion on the lawn beside the villa, lined in ivory and lit by chandeliers, hired as a blank canvas and dressed to whatever the occasion asks for. Glass walls on three sides open onto the gardens, there is a sprung wooden floor for dancing, and the lawns outside take seating or lawn games. Available March to October.
The Kitchen Garden
Exclusive HireA seventeenth-century walled growing garden inside the grounds, planted with seasonal flowers, fruit trees and cut borders. It takes the estate's largest standing receptions and works for alfresco dining and garden parties through spring and summer.
The Courtyards
Exclusive HireTwo open-air spaces at the villa, both licensed for civil ceremonies and both used for drinks receptions. The House Forecourt puts the Palladian facade directly behind the aisle and holds the larger of the two crowds; the Inner Courtyard is the quieter, more enclosed garden room of the pair. Celebrant-led ceremonies and blessings are also taken.
The Clore Learning Space
PrivateThe indoor room of the Garden Studios, a new building flanking the Kitchen Garden. French glass doors run along one side onto the Foyle Yard, so the space opens out in good weather and closes down to a single well-lit room when it does not. Set for theatre, round tables or a working day, with a kitchen and its own cloakroom area behind.
Chiswick House
Exclusive HireThe villa's historic rooms taken together: the gallery rooms hung with the eighteenth-century collection, the domed tribune above them, and the velvet rooms off the upper floor. Ceremonies, drinks and canapes and seated dinners are all held across these rooms, with the courtyard outside used for the reception beforehand.
The Upper Tribune
PrivateThe villa's domed octagonal saloon, marble busts on gilded brackets between full-height paintings, lit by a single chandelier. It is the room ceremonies are held in and the one that seats a private dinner beneath the dome.
The Velvet Rooms
PrivateThe small, intensely decorated rooms on the villa's upper floor, walled in blue and red damask with gilded doorcases, painted ceilings and a dense hang of pictures. The scale is a dinner for sixteen rather than a party, which is exactly what they are let for.
The Boardroom
PrivateThe Garden Studios' meeting room, set for ten around two tables, with a wall-mounted screen and access to the shared kitchen. Hired on its own or alongside the studio next door.
/ Perfect For
/ Features
AV Equipment
- – PA System
- – Wireless Microphone
Catering
- – In-House Luxury Dining
- – Bespoke Menus
Venue Specs
- – Dedicated Events Team
- – Wheelchair Accessible
- – Wi-Fi
- – Cloakroom
/ Getting Here
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