Stowe House

Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date spent more than £25m on the restoration of the house. Stowe House is regularly open to the public. The gardens , a significant example of the English garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust in 1989 and are open to the public. The site saw 232,056 visitors during 2019. The parkland surrounding the gardens is open 365 days a year. National Trust members have free access to the gardens but there is a charge for all visitors to the house which goes towards the costs of restoring the building. The gardens and most of the parkland are listed grade I separately from the House.

Sir George Gifford MP and Knight, born 1495 died 27 December 1557, owned Stowe Manor and Rectory. He willed it to his son Thomas Gifford, born about 1542 died 16 February 1593. His will was dated 20 November 1556 and proved 19 January 1557/58 and again on 21 November 1562.
The Temple family fortune was based on sheep farming, at Witney in Oxfordshire. Later from 1546 they rented a sheep farm in Burton Dassett in Warwickshire. The Stowe estate was leased from Thomas Gifford in 1571 by Peter Temple whose son, John Temple, bought the manor and estate of Stowe in 1589 and it eventually became the home of the Temple family. In the late 17th century, the house was completely rebuilt by Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet, on the present site. This house is now the core of the mansion known today. The old medieval stronghold was located near Stowe Parish Church which is about 100 yards to the south-east of the current house. Having been redesigned subsequently over the years, the whole front is now 916 feet in length and can be seen as you approach from the direction of Buckingham. A long, straight driveway ran from Buckingham all the way to the front of the house, passing through a 60-foot Corinthian arch on the brow of the hill on the way. The driveway approach to the house is still in use today, although it no longer runs through the arch.

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