Thatched House Lodge - History

History

The residence was originally built as two houses in 1673 for two Richmond Park Keepers, as Aldridge Lodge. It was enlarged, possibly by William Kent, in 1727 as a home for Sir Robert Walpole. The two houses were joined in 1771 by Sir John Soane and renamed Thatched House Lodge. It had also been known as Burkitt's Lodge.

The house was used by various members of the Royal Household, including General Sir Edward Bowater, and General Lynedoch Gardiner, respectively Equerry to the Prince Consort and to Queen Victoria. Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet retired to the house after he successfully operated on King Edward VII's appendix in 1902.

Later Thatched House Lodge became the home of Wing Commander Sir Louis Greig (equerry to King George VI, when he was Duke of York), and then the Duke of Sutherland. It was the London home of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Second World War.

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