Osterley House dates from the end of the sixteenth century. When it came into the possession of the Child banking family in the mideighteenth century, the house required extensive renovation.
The brothers Francis and Robert Child commissioned the architect Robert Adam to transform the somewhat dilapidated building into a palace of palaces. Which is exactly what it became: the house resembles an ancient temple with an interior of unprecedented, classical beauty.
The Child brothers used Osterley to entertain their London clients, who must have been in awe of its opulence. In 1949 a descendant of Francis Child left the house to the National Trust, together with the estate.
From this house you will see the following works in the Mauritshuis:
- Cornelis van Poelenburch - Landscape with Tobias and the Angel (c.1625)
