Step inside the made-to-measure home

Room with desk and drawing board

Ninety years ago, following a property viewing similar to the one you will experience on your visit, Upton House was soon under new ownership.

Under new ownership

Lord and Lady Bearsted already knew the local area and when Upton came on the market in 1927 they seized the opportunity to make Upton their country residence.

The building work soon began. Lord Bearsted employed architect Percy Morley Horder to create a scheme to transform the Victorian country house into a ‘made-to-measure’ home. With tasteful mod-cons, home comforts and a place to showcase his growing art collection.

“There is a curious satisfaction in making your home to measure, shaping it neatly round the possessions and habits that fill so large a part of everyday life.” The Ideal Home magazine 1927. 

Follow the renovations

Viewings of the house are at regular intervals throughout the day. Please collect your viewing time on arrival or book in advance here. 

The Land Agent will welcome you at the door, and then you are free to explore the rooms and see the story of how a made-to-measure home has been created.  From engaging your architect and choosing interior fixtures and fittings to starting the build.  For the British people, rich or poor, the idea of home took on new importance after the First World War.  

close up of leaflet

Book your timed tickets to visit 

You'll need a timed ticket to visit the house. They are available from the Land Agents office on the day on a first come first served basis or they can be pre-booked online up to 24 hours before you visit.

Upton in miniature! 

To complement our ‘Made-To-Measure’ project, one of Upton’s volunteers has made us our very own dolls’ house.   This Lilliputian version of Upton House is made-to-measure on a 1/12 scale.  We would like visitors to join us in making fittings, furnishings, and all manner of late 1920s and early 1930s household miniatures, from jelly moulds to radio wirelesses, to dress this very special doll’s house.  If you are a keen crafter and want to join in then please click here for more details. Not leaving anyone out we also have a smaller dolls’ house for children to play with. We’ll be running onsite activities during half term to make items including dolls, perfume bottles and curtains to furnish it.

Our excellent volunteers have been busy painting the doll's house at Upton House and Gardens

Calling crafters and artists to contribute to Upton's doll's house 

Upton House invites visitors to furnish a special made-to-measure doll's house. Our doll's house project celebrates the craftsmanship, artistic vision and devotion that Lord and Lady Bearsted, their architect, workforce and staff invested in the remodeling of Upton between 1927 and 1936.

New Country Life photography exhibition

To celebrate the 120th birthday of country life, the magazine has produced an exhibition that examines two important strands of the magazine’s unrivalled photography – interiors and portraits. Every week since 1897 Country Life has published photographs of outstanding houses old and new, sometimes shockingly so. The pictures chart the changing faces of these buildings and the history of interior design over the same period. In many cases they have recorded the evolution of houses as they passed through the hands of successive owners. Part of the full exhibition is on loan from Country Life and will be at Upton House until the end of the year.

Portraits and architectual photogrpahy from the last 90 years, two of Country Life's most well know front over images.
Front cover images of Country Life magazine on display
Portraits and architectual photogrpahy from the last 90 years, two of Country Life's most well know front over images.

In our exhibition rooms...

1920s costume display

Modern days, modern ways

Discover the style and images of the 1920s in this exhibition using original artwork and posters from Shell, as well as costume. Lord Bearsted became one of the wealthiest men in Britain when he inherited the family fortune – amassed from his father’s development of the Shell Transport and Trading Company. This gave him the funds to buy and re-imagine Upton for the modern age.

Lady looking at picture on wall

Have you good taste?

We offer you the chance to see how you might fare against the style gurus of the day. Take a look at some of the pictures and decide which you think are in the best taste. They say it’s only a matter of common sense and can be learned!

Desk between windows in historic room with framed pictures on the wall

The influence of Country Life

In our Country Life room we explore the influences the fashionable magazine had on home owners at the time. As a respected, high-quality magazine it published photographs of privately owned country houses, interiors and gardens, showcasing the nation’s wealth of historic architecture and culture.

This rare view of the garden shows the structure of the kitchen garden and terraces
House with row of planting and kitchen garden in foreground
This rare view of the garden shows the structure of the kitchen garden and terraces

Viewpoints help you understand the gardens creation

Follow the paths through the gardens and find the viewpoints illustrating the garden's potential, taken from the original house sale particulars. Then look out to see the changes Lady Bearsted made with garden designer Kitty Lloyds Jones. Read the quotes at the viewpoint and piece together the clues in the views as you enjoy the period colours and creations our garden team look after today.