Things to see in Polesden Lacey house

Discover a house to impress

Polesden Lacey was a stunningly renovated weekend retreat famous for the many lavish parties that took place here and famous guests who attended, by invitation of the Honourable Mrs. Margaret Greville.

The house the Grevilles bought in the early 1900's was practically a new building. They employed Mewès and Davis, the architects of the Ritz hotel, to help transform the interiors of their new weekend retreat. One thing's for sure – Mrs Greville wanted her house to impress.

'I want a room I can entertain Maharajas in.'

– Margaret Greville

Polesden Lacey was gifted to the National Trust on Mrs. Greville’s death in 1942, at a time when only celebrated 'show rooms' were considered worthy of visitor attention. Apart from the kitchen, which is now a conservation store, most of the downstairs is as it was in Mrs. Greville’s day, with sumptuous interiors from the stunning décor in the gold Saloon to the inviting library and intimate tea room. Margaret Greville's extensive collection of books, ceramics, objets d’art and paintings are beautifully displayed throughout.

Upstairs, the servants’ quarters were converted into apartments, and later into offices. Most guest rooms were lost, though some have since been made available as part of bookable tours, and others turned into exhibition spaces, which the team use at various times of the year for innovative and engaging exhibitions that tell the stories behind Mrs. Greville’s remarkable collection.

Dress to Impress: exhibition in the house

Dress to Impress is a new exhibition at Polesden Lacey open every day from 2 May until 2 November, 11am to 3.30pm. Explore how fashion in art has reflected power and personality throughout history - and is inspiring a new generation. Take a captivating journey through the glamour and extravagance of fashion in art. Includes opulent costumes by students from Wimbledon College of Arts, BA (Hons) Costume for Theatre and Screen, part of University of the Arts London.

The exhibition is supported by a programme of talks. The first one is happening on Wednesday 14 May at 12pm, when Alice Strickland, Curator, National Trust, and Sophie Clarke, Assistant Curator, National Trust will go behind the scenes to provide fascinating insights into how Dress to Impress was carefully and imaginatively brought to life.  Check out our events listings for detail of how to book.

Visiting the house

As part of the main season in the house - and subject to volunteer availability - we will run behind-the-scenes tours of Margaret Greville’s Apartment and the King’s Suite between 12 May and 2 November. These spaces are not on the main visitor route. Tickets can be collected from the house lobby on a first come, first served basis. The times of tours running each day will be advertised on the magnetic board outside the house.

Due to the nature of the historic interiors of the house, we ask that buggies are not brought inside. We have hip carriers for infants and baby carriers for newborns available, so please do ask for these as you enter the house lobby. We'll show you somewhere safe to leave buggies while you enjoy your visit.

Similarly, we may not be able to accommodate large wheelchairs (a small one is available to use in the house). A volunteer-run accessibility shuttle bus is available to bring those with restricted mobility from Visitor Reception to the house, though this is subject to availability and may not run every day.

 

See the Polesden Lacey homepage for details about opening times.