In 1816, owner Major-General Francis Slater Rebow commissioned John Constable to commit the house to canvas for the fee of 100 guineas.

[1] The painting, Wivenhoe Park, is now displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[2] This was the same General Rebow who returned from the Peninsular Wars with two cork oak cuttings in his boots.

The estate was sold to Charles Edmund Gooch in 1902 and whilst within this family the house was requisitioned by the War Department during the two major conflicts of the 20th century.

The University operated Wivenhoe House as a hotel, and added an extension between 1986-88 by local architect Bryan Thomas.

[5] In 2012 the University of Essex re-opened the hotel after a £10m refurbishment and development, with a modern garden wing replacing the 1980s extension.