Buckland House

It is a masterpiece of Palladian architecture erected by John Wood, the Younger for Sir Robert Throckmorton in 1757 to replace a previous manor house.

Visitors to the house during the Fitzgeralds' tenure included Winston Churchill and Queen Mary, who had objets d'art stored in the basement during World War II.

[9][10] In 2004, motorcar driver Patrick McNally bought Buckland House and began a major restoration to its former glory.

[13][14] John Wood, the Younger substantially revised the plan and added the distinctive octagonal pavilions to the sides of the house.

The saloon has Corinthian pilasters, bold cornices and well carved festoons[1] The new owner engaged the architect W. H. Romaine-Walker[15] to enlarge the property, addings wings on the north front to house a Billiard Room and a Royal Suite, rumoured to have been built to make the property large enough for King Edward VII to visit.

[13] During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century there was further landscaping and planting, supervised by Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton.

[34] An icehouse, also designed by Richard Woods, was sited halfway between the two lakes on a north facing slope behind the house.

Estate workers would break ice from the pond with picks and saws, relay it to the shore and then quickly take it to the icehouse.