The 4th Baronet, Viscount Cobham, inherited Stowe in 1697, aged twenty one. In his day he was one of the foremost generals and Whig politicians, but he is best remembered today for the creation of the Stowe landscape.

After Eton and Cambridge, he became an MP. By twenty six he was a colonel, by thirty four he was lieutenant general. By virtue of his marriage to brewery heiress Anne Halsey, a good army income and various other payments, he could afford extensive work at Stowe, and bought out two cousins to prevent them inheriting the estate. The accession of George I brought him new titles in thanks for his support; first Baron Cobham, then Viscount Cobham. Stowe was remodelled to reflect his social and financial position.

Great changes began in 1711. His garden staff grew to thirty men as he created parterres, avenues, canals and specially commissioned buildings such as the Rotondo. He was very much hands-on, but the sheer scale of his ideas meant that Charles Bridgeman, the royal gardener, and Sir John Vanbrugh, architect and close friend, were called upon to help realise his plans and enlarge the house. By 1724 twenty eight acres and at least ten buildings had been completed.

Vanbrugh died in 1726 and was replaced by James Gibbs, another renowned architect. Another sixty acres and more buildings, including the Boycott Pavilions, were added before he was replaced by William Kent, a pioneer of landscape gardening. His Temple of Venus completed the Western Garden.