Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor's north front
Location within Buckinghamshire
Location	Waddesdon, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0JH
Owner	National Trust
Website	www.waddesdon.org.uk

Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west of Aylesbury. The house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898) as a weekend residence for grand entertaining.

The last member of the Rothschild family to own Waddesdon was James de Rothschild (1878–1957). He bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust. It is now administered by a Rothschild charitable trust that is overseen by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild. It is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, with around 390,000 visitors annually. Waddesdon Manor won Visit England's Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category in 2017.

In 1874, Baron Ferdinand bought a farming estate from the Duke of Marlborough with money inherited from his recently deceased father Anselm. He was familiar with the estate as he had seen it while hunting in the area. There was no existing house, park or garden, only a bare hill that had been stripped of its timber. The foundation stone was laid on 18 August 1887, and the site was quickly transformed.

The first house party was held in 1880 with seven of his close male friends. When the main house was ready in 1883, Ferdinand invited 20 guests to stay. Before his premature death in 1898, Baron Ferdinand played host to many important guests including the future Edward VII.