Kenwood House is an idyllic cream mansion on north London's Hampstead Heath. View paintings by Rembrandt, Turner and Gainsborough left by the first Earl of Iveagh in 1927. A walk across the heath provides spectacular views of London.
The neoclassical Palladian villa was remodelled by Robert Adam between 1764 and 1779 for the great judge, Lord Mansfield. The highlight of any tour is Adam's majestic library with its blue ceiling and elegant parquet floors.
Hanging on the sumptuously decorated walls are paintings belonging originally to the brewing magnate, the Earl of Iveagh. The paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Van Dyck and Frans Hals comprise one of the UK's most precious private collections. The paintings and house were bequeathed to the nation after the Earl's death in 1927.
The gardens were featured in the film Notting Hill (1998) and also formed the backdrop for Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (1999).