Wotton House

Wotton House, or Wotton, in Wotton Underwood (Buckinghamshire, UK), was built between 1704 and 1714, to a design very similar to that of the contemporary version of Buckingham House. The house is an example of English Baroque and a Grade I listed building.

The grounds were laid out by London & Wise with a formal parterre and a double elm avenue leading down to a lake. Fifty years later William Pitt and Capability Brown "improved" the landscape, creating pleasure grounds of 200 acres incorporating two lakes.

After a fire gutted the main house in 1820 the owner, Richard Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, commissioned John Soane to rebuild it. After the 3rd Duke of Buckingham, the last direct Grenville male heir, died in 1889, the house was let to a succession of tenants until in 1929 it was bought by Major Michael Beaumont MP and renovated by the architect ASG Butler, concealing all of Soane's detailing including the central three-storey Tribune. In 1947 Beaumont sold the estate to the Merchant Venturers of Bristol who divided the grounds into small parcels and let the main house to two boys' schools. By 1957 the house had become derelict and was due to be demolished when Elaine Brunner found it and with the help of the architect Donald Insall restored most of the Soane features.

The South Pavilion (the former coach house) was sold separately in 1947. It has had a number of notable owners including Sir Arthur Bryant and Sir John Gielgud, and is presently owned by Tony and Cherie Blair.