Published 03/12/2013
Picturesquely perched on the edge of Hampstead Heath in North London, Kenwood House is now open after an 18-month restoration. The house is renowned for its interiors, designed by Scottish neoclassical architect Robert Adam, and a magnificent painting collection known as the Iveagh Bequest.
Donated to the nation by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847–1927) and heir to the world’s most successful brewery, the Iveagh Bequest reflects the aristocratic tastes of the Georgian era, which includes portraiture, landscape, and seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish works. During the restoriation, the paintings was sent on a US tour.