Ham House is located on the River Thames in the town of Richmond in London, England. The red brick Stuart mansion was built in 1610. William Murray, an enterprising courtier, childhood friend, and later member of the court for Charles I, was given a lease on Ham House from the king in 1626. According to my research, the young William served as the prince’s whipping boy, and he would take a physical beating for the heir when the prince misbehaved. William and his daughter Elizabeth transformed the house with lavish decorations. Charles I was beheaded in 1649 for high treason. In 1660, King Charles II was restored to power, Elizabeth was made the owner of Ham House, and the estate was returned to a place of entertainment. Elizabeth married her second husband, the Duke of Lauderdale, in 1672. The couple loved to travel and purchased furniture from all over the world, transforming Ham House into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England. Some decorative alterations were done in the 1780s and the 1890s. After Elizabeth’s death, her Tolemache descendants from her first husband owned the house for nearly 300 years. In 1948, Ham House became a part of the National Trust, and the gardens were restored. The house’s main entrance faces the river, since visitors calling at the house usually arrived by boat. The house retains most of the original furniture, including a large collection of Dutch paintings, family portraits, textiles, a collection of 17thcentury miniatures, an exotic ivory cabinet, marble flooring, a rare Chinese teapot, and the world’s oldest surviving bathroom. The estate boasts an icehouse, a dairy, heritage crops, gravel terraces, replicas of 17thcentury garden furniture, and the oldest orangery in Britain. The house is reputed to be one of the most haunted in Britain. Ham House is open to the public and has a tea room.#HamHouse #London #England #Britain #RiverThames
