Chicheley Hall is a Grade I listed early-18th-century country house in Buckinghamshire, near Newport Pagnell/Milton Keynes. It’s best known for its Baroque design, landscaped grounds, and long connection with the Chester family.
 
It’s one of those English country houses that survived with unusually little alteration, which is why architectural historians and house-lovers rate it so highly. Simon Jenkins described it as an “architectural jewel,” and it has been used for conferences, weddings, and filming.
 
The site has medieval roots, but the present house was built in the early 1720s for Sir John Chester, with Francis Smith of Warwick involved in the design and William Kent often credited in later accounts. The estate was later used by the military in World War II, then bought by the Royal Society, which restored it and used it as an international science centre.
 
Interesting fact...
A beautiful structure of 900,000 bricks and a front door (seen above) inspired by a Bernini engraving of the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the Vatican.