spencer house tour

Experience Spencer House on a guided tour

Following the ten-year long restoration, Spencer House was officially reopened by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1991 and is now open to the public every Sunday. Join one of our team of Blue Badge guides for a tour of the eight State Rooms and learn more about the history of the house and its famous occupants over the years. Our guides will be happy to answer any questions you may have, making your visit an interactive and engaging experience. From April to October, weather permitting, tours also include access to the garden.

We recommend booking tickets in advance by selecting your preferred time and date from the calendar below. Walk-in t ickets may be available to purchase at the front desk on a first come, first served basis, and are subject to an additional fee of £1.50 per ticket.

We can also accommodate tours for pre-booked groups.

Meet the Guides

Our team of highly qualified and experienced Blue Badge guides are all members of the Guild of Tourist Guides. Find out more about their specialist interests and expertise.

Spencer House is easily accessible by tube, located just a short walk from Green Park Underground Station (Piccadilly, Victoria and Jubilee lines).

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Spencer house.

One of the most sumptuous private residences built in London and a building of unique importance in the history of English architecture.

27 St James's Place, London, SW1A 1NR

Experience this house

• Wheelchair ramps/routes
• Guide dogs welcome
• Accessible toilets

From its conception, Spencer House was recognised as one of the most sumptuous private residences ever built in London and a building of unique importance in the history of English architecture.

Designed by John Vardy and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, the State Rooms are amongst the first neo-classical interiors in Europe. The House has regained the full splendour of its eighteenth-century appearance after a painstaking ten-year restoration under the Chairmanship of Lord Rothschild.

The restoration has enabled the return of some key pieces of furniture to their original locations, including Vardy’s elaborate giltwood console tables in the Dining Room and Stuart’s Painted Room suite, both on loan from the V&A, London. Particularly welcome was the return to the House of Guercino’s King David, lent from a private collection. Spencer House is available for exclusive corporate events and private functions throughout the year. Receptions, Lunches, Dinners, Weddings and Presentations can all be accommodated within the magnificent State Rooms. The House is also open to the Public for guided tours on Sundays.

Please note:  The information on the Historic Houses website is advisory, but please always check the website of the house or garden you intend to visit before travelling.

Spencer House, is open to the public for viewing every Sunday (except during August) from 10.00 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. (last tour).

Access is by guided tour, which lasts approximately 1 hour. Tours begin at regular intervals and the maximum number of visitors on each tour is 20.

Getting here

Spencer House is situated at 27 St James’s Place, London SW1A 1NR, overlooking Green Park. The House can be reached via St. James’s Street or Green Park.

The House is only a few minutes away from Green Park underground station, or a 10-minute bus ride from Victoria station. To walk from Green Park underground station (about 3 minutes): Exit the tube station on the south side, walk down Queen’s Walk for a few hundred yards. Turn left through the small alleyway off the left side of Queen’s Walk for about 150 yards. Turn right and Spencer House will be in front of you.

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The Londoness

• Secret London

A tour of Spencer House

Last updated on March 29th, 2022

Spencer House in Mayfair is one of the finest examples of eighteenth-century architecture in London. The Georgian mansion, which has one of the most drop-dead interiors in the capital, once provided a backdrop for many a glittering soirée. It’s now one of London’s most exclusive venues – the Queen invited all her prime ministers for dinner here a few years back. We ordinary mortals may not all be able to afford a private event here, but as luck would have it, the house is now open on Sundays for guided, gilded tours.

Georgiana would receive guests in this drawing room, aptly named Lady Spencer’s Room. The ceiling design is a nod to the Baths of Augustus in Rome.

Spencer House was built for John and Georgiana Spencer (great-great-great-great-great aunt to Diana, Princess of Wales). Charles Spencer, brother to Diana, is now its exalted owner. But it’s thanks to Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, that the house looks like the Georgian time machine it now is. Following decades during which the house saw every square inch of its innards ripped out, the Rothschild team spent ten years carrying out a no details spared restoration of the building, bringing it back to its former glorious self. Spencer House is now considered London’s finest surviving 18-century townhouse.

History of Spencer House

The private palace was built in 1756, a year after a 21-year-old John Spencer married his sweetheart, the 18-year-old Margaret Georgiana Poyntz. The power couple would have five children, the most famous of whom was Lady Georgiana Spencer (of Devonshire).

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was one of their three surviving children. She would become one of the most famous women of the Georgian era.

John Spencer had inherited a fortune and an impressive art collection from his great-grandmother, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. He needed just the right house to show off both his wealth and his art. As a young man, Spencer also went on two Grand Tours, taking his new bride on the second one. They came back armed with arty and architectural goodies with which to furnish the house.

The Entrance Hall at Spencer House

Spencer hired the architect John Vardy who had worked under William Kent – of Kensington Palace and Chiswick House fame. Vardy designed the exterior of the house as well as the ground floor. A second, more flamboyant architect, James “Athenian” Stuart was hired to complete the first floor. Stuart was a fan of all things Greek, so what  you now see in Spencer House is one of London’s earliest neo-classical interiors. He was also rather partial to a tipple or two, and so the project took rather longer than anticipated.

A succession of Spencers inhabited the house, together with a stint by the Duke of Marlborough and his wife, the former Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt. Fast forward to 1926, at which point the seventh Earl of Spencer moved out.

The house was then leased to various companies including the Ladies Army and Navy Club and Christie’s Auctioneers. During The Blitz, the Spencers removed all their furniture and anything that could be salvaged. This included everything from fireplaces to door surrounds and skirting boards. The carcass of the house was left behind, but the guts were all taken up to Althorp. And in case you’re wondering, you can see large chunks of the original Spencer House at Althorp today.

Lord Rothschild

Rothschild took over the lease of Spencer House in 1985 after which a painstaking ten-year restoration project was initiated. Historians, architects, engineers and designers formed part of a committee which not only aimed to recreate the interiors designed by Vardy and Stuart, but also retain the additions and modifications made by Holland. Master craftsmen were hired in order to breathe history back into the house. The new interiors now boast a mix of old and new. The newly restored house is a real love letter to John and Georgiana Spencer.

The replacement fireplaces took ten years to build. This is the only original that remains in the house, but you would be hard pressed to know the others were not originals.

The art collection is also no less impressive than it once was, with several museum pieces on loan from such greats as the Royal Collection Trust, Tate and the Royal Academy. There is even a Canaletto.

The ritziest address in London

Margaret Georgiana Poyntz Spencer. (Althorp)

Georgiana was the hostess with the mostest and would entertain le tout London. Banquets, lunches, dinners, plays and masks were held on a regular basis throughout the Season. The actor and playwright David Garrick was one of Georgiana’s good friends and was a regular at Spencer House.

Check out the “S” for Spencer door handles throughout the house. These are replicas from the original Spencer House door furniture, now installed at Althorp.

Visiting Spencer House

The house is open for tours throughout the year except for August. It would be such fun to capture a Georgian apparition or two, but no photos are allowed on your tour.  You’ll just have to enjoy the wonderful sound of creaking floorboards and some of the blingiest interiors in London instead.

Spencer House, 27 St James’s Place, London SW1A 1NR. You can book tours on the website or by emailing [email protected] . Adult: £15.50.

I was a guest of Spencer House. As always, opinions are my own.

A London arts and culture blog featuring articles about art, theatre, opera, dance, music and design.

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Absolutely beautiful, thank you Scarlett for these amazing tours and history lessons. I just love it! Planning our next UK holiday and can’t wait.

That’s so exciting, Carol, pleased you are heading to London!

Oh I do love a tour with you, Scarlett! What an incredible space and I do love the way you tell a story.

Thanks so much Jenny!

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John Spencer married his childhood sweetheart, Georgiana Poyntz in 1735 and together they had Spencer House designed and built as a Temple of the Arts for fashionable entertaining and as a setting for the Earl’s impressive art collection.  (The image above is the view of the house from the garden).

Our tour is of the magnificent State Rooms that underwent full restoration during the period between 1987-1989, overseen by Lord Rothschild, whose company took over the lease of the house in 1985. The stunning result is a testament to the support of the Spencer family who granted access to their home at Althorp, enabling the replication of architectural features to the highest standard.

At the end of our tour we will enjoy a glass of champagne (or soft drink) in the Dining Room and get a taste of what it must have been like (and indeed still is) to enjoy the fine hospitality enjoyed by guests invited to Spencer House, which is still available as a ‘Temple of the Arts for Fashionable Entertaining’ – if you can afford it! 

Weather permitting, we will be able to have a wander in the GARDEN at the end of our visit.

Image credits: The Palm Room and staircase, Spencer House. Richard Davies © Spencer House Ltd/ exterior shot from wikicommons images

Need to know

Meet outside: Spencer House, 27 St James’s Place, London, SW1A 1NR Price includes a glass of champagne at the end of the tour and time to visit the garden (weather permitting)

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Spencer House

London england, greater london.

Spencer House is London’s most magnificent eighteenth-century aristocratic palace

Built between 1756-1766 for John, first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) it is London’s finest surviving eighteenth-century town house.

Access contact details

Spencer House, is open to the public for viewing every Sunday (except during August) from 10.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. (last tour). Access is by guided tour, which lasts approximately 1 hour. Tours begin at regular intervals and the maximum number of visitors on each tour is 15.

Designations

Open to the public.

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Rusmania • Deep into Russia

Out of the Centre

Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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