A visit to two very special privately owned houses in Oxfordshire.
Kingston Bagpuize House is set in the Vale of the White Horse and surrounded by its beautiful garden and parkland. The owner, Virginia Grant, very kindly agreed to guide us around her home on a private tour.
The roots of Kingston Bagpuize House go back to at least the 11th century and the present house is thought to have been built in the 1660’s although largely remodelled in the early 1700’s.
Milton Manor, the home of Anthony Mockler-Barrett, was originally built to a design of Inigo Jones at the time of the Restoration with the two most spectacular rooms in the house, the Strawberry Hill Gothic Library and the Gothic chapel, being added by Bryant Barrett.
The house was requisitioned by the RAF during the War and for some years after stood empty until Anthony’s mother Marjorie lovingly restored it together with the fascinating contents. The House was the subject of a Country Life BBC2 programme in 2016.