Osborne House

undefined, Solent News

Osborne House was the seaside retreat of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, built between 1845 and 1851 on a hillside overlooking the Solent near East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The house was designed by Prince Albert in collaboration with the builder Thomas Cubitt in an Italianate style inspired by the couple's love of the Italian Riviera. The grounds, which sweep down to a private beach, offered the royal family a privacy impossible to achieve at any of their other residences. The house remains furnished much as it was in Victoria's time, and visitors can see the state apartments, the private rooms where the Queen worked and wrote, the nursery suite, and the Durbar Room, decorated in an elaborate Indian style. Victoria died at Osborne in January 1901, and the room where she passed away has been preserved. After her death, the house was given to the nation by Edward VII. Osborne House is managed by English Heritage and is one of the most visited attractions on the Isle of Wight. The grounds include the Swiss Cottage, a miniature chalet built for the royal children to learn domestic skills, a walled garden, and the Queen's private beach, which is open to visitors during the summer months.