Watlington Park is an English country house with its surrounding grounds of approximately 500 acres (200 ha),[1] located atop an escarpment in the Chiltern Hills, approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southwest of Christmas Common and 1.4 miles (2.3 km) southeast of Watlington, Oxfordshire.
[2] In the late 19th century, Watlington Park exchanged hands multiple times, until Oliver Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher, bought it in 1920, renovating and extending the house.
His son, the architect and city planner Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher, inherited the property upon his father's death in 1963, pared down the property to its earlier design removing much of the 19th and 20th century additions, and lived as well as ran his architectural practice together with Francis Pollen from there.
[2] The house became Grade II* listed on 18 July 1963,[3] meaning it is considered a "particularly important building of more than special interest".
[4] In several instalments during the 20th century, large parts of the estate were donated to or otherwise placed under the administration of the National Trust, including the adjoining Watlington Hill.