Originally part of Beaulieu Abbey, the estate was bought in 1538 by Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The Palace House is open to the public as part of the visitor attraction known as "Beaulieu", which includes: The 1936 British Pathé film, Miniature Railway, (ID Number 1222.23), is a 1':40" long feature which shows (Miss.)

Beaulieu, according to the official website, is one of the most haunted places in Britain, with reported sightings going back over a hundred years,[4][5][6][7] and possibly as far as the mid-16th century.

[8] Numerous paranormal investigators have conducted research at the abbey, including Arthur Conan Doyle, who it is claimed made contact with a ghost during a séance at Palace House.

[11][5][9][10] The smell of incense, which allegedly signals tragedy for the people of the abbey or the village, was also reported by Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu among others in a room of the Palace House used as a chapel in the Middle Ages.