Perhaps the most remarkable Stuart house in the country Ham House was built in 1610 for Sir Thomas Vavasour, Knight Marshal to King James VI and is one of a series of palaces and grand houses found along the banks of the river Thames.

On Sir Thomas’s death in 1620, the house passed briefly to the earl of Holdernesse, before becoming the home of William Murray in 1626. Murray was a
childhood friend of Charles I, and a fellow connoisseur and collector. He remodelled the
interior of the house between 1637 and 1639, creating the Great Staircase and a suite of sumptuous rooms on the first floor.

In the 1670s the house was greatly enlarged by Murray’s daughter Elizabeth and her second husband John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, in order to reflect their status in Charles’s II Restoration court and to accommodate their outstanding collection of fine art, textiles and furniture.

Much of these collections remain in the house to the present day.

Ham House was then occupied by the Tollemache family, descendents of Elizabeth and her first husband Sir Lionel Tollemache, until 1948 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust

The formal garden is significant for its survival within the area known to be the cradle of the English Landscape Movement and work has been carried out since 1975 in order to restore it to its 17th century layout.

For information on our regular programme of events contact the property.