Our Home at Ditchley Park

Sitting on the old boundary of the Royal Forest of Wychwood, the first house on the site, which was built by the Elizabethan Courtier Sir Henry Lee, stood a little to the north-east of the current mansion. A splendid portrait of the Queen - the 'Ditchley Elizabeth' - commemorates her visit to the house, and depicts the sovereign standing with one foot planted on Ditchley.

Ditchley was rebuilt in its current form by his descendant, the Second Earl of Lichfield, in c.1722. Now Grade I listed, the Mansion House is a fine and remarkably complete early Georgian Palladian masterpiece, and is one of the most important surviving country houses designed by James Gibbs. Much of the interior is by William Kent, with exquisite mouldings by the Italian stuccatori, Vassali, Serena, and the Artari brothers.

The decor bears witness to the house's numerous royal connections, including mounted antlers from deer hunted by James I and his son Henry, Prince of Wales in the early seventeenth century in the saloon, which overlooks the long lawn terrace on the north front.

When the Lichfield line died out the estate then passed to the Dillon family, related to the Lees by marriage. Unlike many grand houses, Ditchley was not altered in Victorian times and remains almost entirely Georgian in style. The greatest paintings were gifted to the nation by the Dillon family in the 1930s, but much of the centuries of history remain intact and in situ.

Ronnie and Nancy Tree, wealthy Anglo-Americans of excellent taste, fell in love with and bought Ditchley in 1933, transforming it into one of the most beautiful and fashionable houses in the country. Nancy went on to become the famous decorator Nancy Lancaster, working closely if turbulently with John Fowler. Ronnie and Nancy may have loved beauty, but they were also serious people who worked to the point of exhaustion during the war to win American support, on various levels, for the people of the UK.

Ronnie Tree, a Conservative MP and strong supporter of rearmament, was a close friend of Anthony Eden and his circle including Winston Churchill, who visited Ditchley in the 1930s.

When not being used by The Ditchley Foundation, Ditchley Park hosts private events for selected institutions and companies that fit our criteria.

A haven for wildlife since at least 1500, due to its location in the former Royal Forest of Wychwood and longstanding private ownership, Ditchley Park is a unique ecosystem that includes many rare plants, animals and birds. We are supported in the protection of this ecosystem by our surroundings within a further private estate managed sustainably by the HDH Wills Charitable Trust, which provides grants to conserve the environment and wildlife.