Queens House

Standing before you is England's first classical building, and it sparked an architectural revolution that changed the nation forever. The Queen's House was commissioned in 1616 by Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I. Architect Inigo Jones had just returned from Italy, inspired by Renaissance villas and the work of Andrea Palladio. He created something Britain had never seen before: a perfectly proportioned classical villa that contrasted dramatically with the red brick Tudor palaces surrounding it.

When Anne died in 1619, only the ground floor was complete. The project lay dormant until 1629, when King Charles I gifted the unfinished house to his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. She saw it completed by 1635. This elegant white villa sits in Greenwich on the site of the demolished Greenwich Palace, nestled between the Old Royal Naval College and Greenwich Park. Step inside and you will find the Great Hall, a perfect 12 meter cube with striking black and white geometric marble floors laid in 1635.

The Tulip Stairs nearby are Britain's first self supporting spiral staircase, their iron railings decorated with what appear to be lilies. When Sir Christopher Wren designed the Royal Naval College in the 1690s, Queen Mary II made one firm demand: preserve the view from this house to the Thames. Wren split his design into two matching wings, creating the dramatic gap you see framing the river beyond.