One of the earliest and largest houses in Hampstead the house is architecturally outstanding, although the architect and even the name of the family for whom it was built are lost.

Fenton House is now best known for its collection of early keyboard instruments but it also houses outstanding porcelain, needlework, paintings and other collections.

The house sits in a garden which seems hardly to have changed in 300 years. Wrought iron gates mark the southern entrance. To the north, terraced walks around a formal lawn and rose garden lead to the apple orchard and kitchen garden.

In most respects the house is the typical product of a master builder of around 1686 when James II was King but could be up to William III and Mary in 1689.

Thomas Sympson was the first owner whose widow sold the house to Joshua Gee (1667-1730). Gee was a merchant in silk, iron and other commodities and also an adviser to the Board of Trade and Plantations. The second recorded owner, he bought Fenton House in 1706, and was a founding partner with George Washington's father in the Principio Company which was formed to produce pig iron in Maryland USA for sale in England. A Quaker and a personal friend of William Penn, (Pennsylvania is named after him) he was one of eight men who procured Penn's release after he had been imprisoned for his steward's dishonesty.

The mementoes of Joshua Gee's ownership of Fenton House are his initials and those of his wife (JAG) entwined in the ironwork over the front gate. The gates are of unusually high quality made by a craftsman working under Jean Tijou.

Later came Phillip Fenton who gave the house its name, and his son James who added the colonnade for the main entrance.