Photo: Humac45 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
About this place
Osborne House stands above the Solent at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, built between 1845 and 1851 as a private seaside retreat for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Prince Albert designed the house himself, choosing the form of an Italian Renaissance palazzo rather than a conventional English country house.
English Heritage now looks after the property and its grounds.
Visitors can walk through the state rooms much as the royal family left them, along with a private beach and a Swiss Cottage in the grounds.
Read more on WikipediaHistory
Victoria and Albert commissioned the house to replace a smaller existing property on the site. Thomas Cubitt, who had recently completed the main facade of Buckingham Palace, carried out the work. Victoria died at Osborne on 22 January 1901. Following her death, Edward VII gave the house to the nation. Part of the estate then served as the Royal Naval College, Osborne, training junior officers from 1903 to 1921.
Architecture
Prince Albert designed the house himself in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo, a deliberate break from the Gothic taste fashionable elsewhere in Victorian Britain. The original entrance portico from the earlier, smaller house on the site survives and now forms the gateway into the walled garden.
Worth knowing
Queen Victoria died in the house in January 1901. The Swiss Cottage in the grounds was built for the royal children.
Gardens & grounds
The grounds run down to a private beach on the Solent and include formal terraces designed under Albert's direction, along with the walled garden behind the old portico.
Plan your visit
Nearest station: Wootton (Isle of Wight Steam Railway) (2.1 miles)
Nearby properties
Carisbrooke Castle
View Carisbrooke Castle on heritage mapNewtown Old Town Hall
View Newtown Old Town Hall on heritage mapCalshot Castle
View Calshot Castle on heritage mapFort Brockhurst
View Fort Brockhurst on heritage mapTitchfield Abbey
View Titchfield Abbey on heritage mapHistoric places nearby
Within 5 miles of Osborne House (PO32) there are 1 historic properties, including 1 castle.
Within 10 miles of Osborne House (PO32) there are 11 historic properties, including 5 historic buildings and 3 castles, across English Heritage and National Trust sites.
Within 20 miles of Osborne House (PO32) there are 22 historic properties, including 11 historic buildings, 4 castles and 3 historic houses, across English Heritage, National Trust and Historic Houses sites.
Facts
The one royal home Victoria and Albert designed purely for family life, right down to a beach.
- Type
- house
- Location
- Isle of Wight, England
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