Kenwood House

London, United Kingdom

Kenwood House is a former stately home on the northern edge of Hampstead Heath in London, United Kingdom. The house was remodelled in the neoclassical style by the architect Robert Adam in the late eighteenth century for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. In the early twentieth century it was acquired by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, who bequeathed the house and his picture collection to the nation; it is now managed by English Heritage and open to the public free of charge.

The Iveagh Bequest includes major Old Master paintings, among them Rembrandt's late self-portrait and The Guitar Player by Johannes Vermeer, as well as works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Turner.

Address: Hampstead Lane, Hampstead, London NW3 7JR
Opening times: Mon–Sun, 10:00–17:00
Last entry 16:30. Free to enter; pre-booking recommended.

The entrance front of Kenwood House, a pale neoclassical mansion with a central pedimented portico carried on Ionic columns, flanked by symmetrical brick wings, with visitors crossing the gravel forecourt under a bright sky. — The entrance front of the house, framed by its Ionic portico and pediment.

The south side of Kenwood House seen along a gravel path, with the tall arched windows of the Orangery to the left and visitors walking beside the building past the lawns of Hampstead Heath. — The Orangery wing along the side of the house, beside the lawns of Hampstead Heath.

An interior room at Kenwood with deep red damask walls and matching curtains, hung with Old Master paintings in gilt frames and lit by a crystal chandelier, with visitors looking at the pictures. — A room hung with Old Master paintings on red damask walls beneath a crystal chandelier.

Vermeer's The Guitar Player in a black and silver frame, lit from above, hanging on red damask at Kenwood House, with the gallery number 62 on a label below it. — Vermeer's The Guitar Player on view on the red damask wall at Kenwood.

Currently here1

The Guitar Player

1670–1673