What to see
A hand-picked shortlist of the rooms, gardens and set-pieces to prioritise if you only have a few hours on site. Ordered roughly as a first-time visitor might encounter them.
No. 1
Ferdinand's principal reception room and a set-piece of the house tour. Crimson silk-lined walls display full-length Gainsborough and Reynolds portraits, including the celebrated Pink Boy. The room's 18th-century French carpet, Louis XVI seat furniture and gilt-bronze mounts show the Rothschild taste at its most theatrical.
No. 2
A long top-lit gallery originally hung as a picture room and today used for changing displays of the collection. It runs along the east front of the house and gives some of the best views back over the parterre — a favourite lingering point for slow visitors.
No. 3
The private smoking room, billiard room and Ferdinand's personal study. Rehung in recent years, it now presents the baron's more intimate collecting — Renaissance arms and armour, medals, boxwood miniatures — and reveals the domestic side of a house that could otherwise feel museum-like.
No. 4
One of the finest private wine collections in Britain, still active. More than 15,000 bottles from Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Lafite Rothschild are stored across vaulted cellars beneath the house. Access is on the standard tour and is a highlight for many visitors.
No. 5
A white wrought-iron aviary of 1889 modelled on 18th-century French pavilions and now home to a breeding programme for endangered species. A quiet, unexpected pleasure — worth doubling back for even if you have already been round the house.
No. 6
The formal south front garden. Its intricate carpet-bedding is entirely re-planted twice a year using around 100,000 plants and echoes the geometry of the house behind it. Best seen from the raised terrace after midday, when the light rakes across the beds.
If you have only two hours in the house, our recommended sequence is: start in the West Hall, work through the Red and Grey Drawing Rooms, pause in the East Gallery, then cross to the Bachelors' Wing before descending to the Wine Cellars. Leave the parterre and aviary for after lunch, when the crowds around the house peak.
For families, the aviary, adventure playground and Woodland Playground are the strongest draws — allow an hour outdoors before attempting the house.
Reviewed by The Visitor Guide editorial team. Last updated July 2026.
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