Chartwell
Chartwell was the home of Sir Winston Churchill, located in Kent, 2 miles south of Westerham.
Churchill and his wife Lady Clementine Churchill, bought the property in 1922 and retained it until his death in 1965. He employed architect Phillip Tilden to modernize and extend the dreary house that stood on the property. Tilden transformed the house by simplifying and modernizing it, as well as by allowing more light into the house.
The property boasts beautiful terraced gardens containing lakes that Churchill created, the water garden where he fed his fish, Lady Churchill?s rose garden and the Golden Rose Walk, a Golden Wedding anniversary gift from their children. The garden areas provided inspiration for Churchill's paintings, many of which are on display in the houses' garden studio.
The house has been preserved as it would have looked with Churchill owned it. Rooms are carefully decorated with memorabilia and gifts, the original furniture and books, as well as honors and medals that Churchill received.
The property is currently under the administration of the National Trust. It was given to the trust in 1946 but was not open to the public until after Churchill's death, in 1965.
Previous owners of the site were:
- William At Well (during the reign of Edward III)
- Potter - 1611
- Rivers
- Smith
- Whitby - 1616
- Bridger - 1664
- Ellison
- Campbell-Colquhoun Family - 1845 to 1922
