Osborn House on the Isle of Wight was Queen Victoria’s private family home for 50 years. It was designed by his consort, Prince Albert, together with the master builder Thomas Cubitt. Cubitt also designed much of Bloomsbury, Battersea Park and many of the historic streets and in London, Belgravia and Pimlico.
The house was designed as an Italian palazzo to take advantage of its seaside position in the northeast of the island, not far from the Cowes sailing complex, where the famous regatta takes place.
Story
When Queen Victoria first saw Osborne, she is said to have said, “You can’t imagine a more beautiful place.” From 1843 to 1845, the royal family leased an 18th-century house owned by an English aristocrat. Then in 1845. Victoria and Albert bought the property and began creating the house you see today. It was designed as a summer vacation home and a family retreat from formal court life in London and Windsor. It was also a place to entertain visiting diplomats and dignitaries in a less formal setting than the Palace or Castle.
When Osborne House was built, it had no ballroom or large reception rooms, so if the Queen entertained herself there, it had to be during the summer months, on the lawn under a tent. In 1892, the Durbar Wing House expansion included a large reception room and the fabulously decorated Durbar Room.
After the death of Queen Victoria, the house, which had been her private home and not the property of the state, would have passed to her heirs. But King Edward VII did not need it, and no other member of the royal family wanted the property or the expenses of managing it. In 1902, the king gave it to the nation and some parts had been open to the public since 1904.
Over the years it has served as a convalescent hospital for military officers and as a naval college. In 1986, English Heritage took over its management and has been gradually restoring and renovating, opening more of the house each year.
Things to see at Osborne’s house
A visit to Osborne House includes the opportunity to visit Victoria and Albert’s private rooms. They had been sealed in 1901 by order of King Edward VII, but were opened to the public in 1954 after Queen Elizabeth II gave her permission.
This is what you can expect to see in one visit:
- Family Rooms – These rooms offer an intimate glimpse into the private lives of Albert, Victoria, and their nine children. The nursery has been restored and furnished as it might have been when the royal family was in residence. You can also see the queen’s personal bathroom and the bedroom where she died in 1901. Albert’s private suite was left largely intact after his death and some of the things he used are still where he left them.
- The State Rooms: The rooms where the queen entertained dignitaries and celebrities and conducted state business include a council room where she met with members of her privy council; a dining room prepared for a formal dinner in 1850; an opulent hall, decorated with yellow satin, mirrors and cut glass, and a billiard room where the queen and the ladies of her court sometimes played.
- The Durbar Room – This state room deserves a special mention due to its elaborate Indian-style décor. The room reflected the role of Queen Victoria as Empress of India. It was designed by Rudyard Kipling’s father, Lockwood Kipling, and the Indian master carver Bhai Ram Singh.
- Queen’s Beach and Bath Machine: The private beach opened to the public in 2012. Families can swim and picnic there. During the summer months, there are traditional Punch and Judy shows. A shuttle bus takes visitors from the house to the beach throughout the day. While on the beach, you can take a look inside Queen Victoria’s ‘bath machine’. In Victorian times, swimming in the sea was something new and something that women rarely indulged in. But the fashion changed and it was considered healthy to soak in salt water, or at least get a little wet. Bathing machines were little huts on wheels that horses dragged into the sea, or sometimes servants. Inside would be a change of dry clothes and other supplies. When the bathing machine was in place, the ladies, dressed from head to toe in Victorian bathing suits, would be helped down a short flight of stairs, towards the water. At Osborne House, you can enter Queen Victoria’s machine.
- The Swiss Cottage – Some distance from the main house, a Swiss-style chalet was built for Victoria and Albert’s children to learn home skills. They prepared cakes and cakes for tea on children’s kitchen equipment, and a few years ago a dairy was discovered where they could learn to make butter and cheese behind a bricked-up door.
how to visit
The Isle of Wight is a flattened, diamond-shaped island in the Solent, a narrow channel through the mouth of the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth. Getting there involves crossing by ferry or hovercraft. Taxis are available at all ports for the short trip to Osborne House.
- Red Funnel Ferries operates car ferries from Southampton to East Cowes, 1.5 miles from the house.
- Wightlink Ferries operate fast catamaran services from Portsmouth Harbor train station to Ryde, about seven miles away.
- HoverTravel offers the latest hovercraft passenger services in the UK, between Southsea, Portsmouth Harbor and Ryde. The ride takes just 10 minutes and if you’ve never experienced a hovercraft flight it’s fun to give it a try.
Osborne House and grounds are open year-round, but opening hours vary by season. Be sure to check the website for times and prices.
What to see nearby
While on the Isle of Wight, you may want to see:
- The Needles – See these incredible sea stacks at The Battery, a former weapons site and cliffs maintained by the National Trust
- The Needles Chairlift – A chairlift from the cliffs to the beach north of Needles gives you a different view of them.
- Cowes – The boating and boating town of Cowes is fun to explore and visit for shopping, eating, and looking at great sailing yachts.
- Dinosaur Island – A good rainy day attraction for families, this museum / exhibition is about the many dinosaur fossils found on the Isle of Wight, one of the most important dinosaur sites in Europe.
