Chiswick House

Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington, designed Chiswick House, a romantic 18th-century villa and gardens, to evoke classical Italian themes. The house was a show piece, used for entertaining and to display the Earl's collection of paintings, many of which remain. Next door was an older house, now demolished, where the Burlingtons actually lived although Lady Burlington did turn one room into a bedroom after the death of her husband.