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Osborne House

1851 establishments in EnglandCountry houses on the Isle of WightEast CowesEnglish Heritage sites in the Isle of WightGardens on the Isle of Wight
Grade II* listed parks and gardensGrade I listed buildings on the Isle of WightGrade I listed housesHistoric house museums on the Isle of WightHouses completed in 1851Italianate architecture in EnglandPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and GothaQueen VictoriaRoyal residences in EnglandUse British English from January 2024
Osborne House from the air (cropped)
Osborne House from the air (cropped)

Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo. The builder was Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company built the main facade of Buckingham Palace for the royal couple in 1847. An earlier smaller house on the Osborne site was demolished to make way for the new and far larger house, though the original entrance portico survives as the main gateway to the walled garden. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901, aged 81. Following her death, King Edward VII, who had never liked Osborne, presented the house to the state on the day of his coronation, with the royal pavilion being retained as a private museum to Victoria. From 1903 to 1921, part of the estate around the stables was used as a junior officer training college for the Royal Navy, known as the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Another section of the house was used as a convalescent home for officers. In 1933, many of the temporary buildings at Osborne were demolished. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for the first floor rooms (the private apartments) in the royal pavilion to be opened to the public. In 1986, English Heritage assumed management of Osborne House. In 1989, the second floor of the house was also opened to the public. The house is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England, and the landscaped park and gardens are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Osborne House (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.750555555556 ° E -1.2697222222222 °
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Address

Osborne House, Garden and Grounds

Ring Walk
PO32 6JX , Osborne
England, United Kingdom
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Osborne House from the air (cropped)
Osborne House from the air (cropped)
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Nearby Places

East Cowes Castle
East Cowes Castle

East Cowes Castle, located in East Cowes, was the home of architect John Nash between its completion and his death in 1835. Nash himself was the designer of the site, and began construction as early as 1798. It was completed in 1800 and was said to have been built at unlimited expense. Nash was finally interred in the grounds. The structure gained renown for its complex castellation, its gothic-style turrets and towers, which were built in the style of the period of Edward VI, and for the notable individuals who came to be Nash's guests there, including the Prince Regent, who went on to become King George IV and J. M. W. Turner, who painted a picture of the location. On Nash's death, the estate was sold to the Earl of Shannon who added a lodge at the south of the estate. It was then briefly held by the politician, George Tudor, before being acquired by the Viscount Gort family, who held it until 1934. The castle was requisitioned by the War Office during the Second World War, under whose use the condition of the building suffered greatly; and due to subsequent neglect and deterioration, the castle was finally demolished in 1963. The castle's gatehouse, North Lodge and an original icehouse survive and the castle's clock remains on display at the Carisbrooke Castle Museum. Over the next thirty years, housing developments were built over the estate. The estate used to cover the area now bordered by Old Road, New Barn Road, York Avenue and Castle Street.Although East Cowes Castle no longer exists, there is an exact copy of the original castle called Lough Cooter Castle, near Gort, County Galway. For the circumstances concerning its creation, see the paragraph below.

Frank James Hospital
Frank James Hospital

The Frank James Hospital is a currently closed hospital in Adelaide Grove, East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. It was sold by the NHS Trust in 2002 and since then, it has had ownership issues, which has led to its vandalism and disrepair. The building is currently on the endangered buildings list for the United Kingdom. It has a central block with two projecting wings and a verandah to the ground floor on all sides. It is built of red brick, with a tiled roof and has been Grade II listed since 1979.The building was constructed in 1893, as a home for retired seamen and was originally called the Frank James Memorial Home. It was commissioned by William and Arthur James as a memorial to their brother, Frank Linsly James, eldest son of the New York entrepreneur Daniel James and his wife Sophia, who ran the British arm of their company Phelps Dodge from Liverpool. The building was designed in a Dutch Style by Somers Clarke. In 1903, the home was transformed into a cottage hospital, with its running costs paid for by charitable donations. It was eventually absorbed into the National Health Service in 1948, before finally closing in 2002. Between then and now, it has been laying empty and gradually deteriorating. In March 2012, an action group was formed called the "Friends of Frank James", with the aim of saving and preserving the Frank James Hospital for future generations. They have had the support of Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner. The group's aim is to push for action, to prevent the building being lost forever.