One of Britain's greatest mansions is on the market, with 36ft ceilings, 17 bedrooms, 37,000sq ft and gardens landscaped by Capability Brown
Kirtlington Park is without doubt one of the finest private homes in Britain — and it's seeking new owners. Penny Churchill takes a look.
The King visited Kirtlington Park frequently during his polo-playing days and he no doubt liked what he saw when he stepped inside the glorious Grade I-listed, Palladian house. The same could be said of ballerina Dame Darcey Bussell, who held her 1997 wedding reception in the great hall. Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor is said to have once tried to purchase the place, but was turned away.
Set in 29 acres of glorious gardens and parkland on the edge of the Oxfordshire village of Kirtlington, six miles from Woodstock and 11 miles from Oxford, Kirtlington Park House enjoys spectacular views over the surrounding estate towards the Chiltern Hills. Now, following a comprehensive programme of restoration and enhancement, it is for sale for the first time in 54 years, at a guide price of £12 million through Crispin Holborow of Savills Private Office and Charles Elsmore-Wickens of Savills in Oxford.
The Dashwood family were large-scale landowners in Oxfordshire for more than two centuries from 1682, when Robert Dashwood acquired the manor of Kirtlington on his marriage to the heiress Penelope Chamberlayne; the creation of the Kirtlington baronetcy followed in 1684.
Kirtlington House was built for Robert’s grandson, Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet, between 1742 and 1746 by master-builder William Smith of Warwick, with interiors by the architect John Sanderson, who finalised plans originally put forward by James Gibbs, the designer of Oxford’s Radcliffe Camera and nearby Ditchley Park. Kirtlington’s famous parkland was probably laid out by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the early 1750s.
Sir James and his family moved into Kirtlington Park House in 1745, although some parts of the building were still unfinished when he died in 1779, because he had been forced to settle huge debts run up by his son, Sir Henry Dashwood, a compulsive gambler. The saloon and the main staircase were eventually completed in the 1820s by Sir Henry’s son, Sir George Dashwood, 4th Baronet.
The Dashwood family lived at Kirtlington Park until 1909, when the 3,000-acre estate was sold twice in two decades, firstly to the Earl of Leven and Melville and then, in 1921, to Hubert Budgett. It was he who, in 1926, founded the Kirtlington Park Polo Club, which is still run by the family today.
The Kirtlington library retains its Rococo interior and spectacular plasterwork ceiling.
In 1931, Budgett sold Kirtlington Park’s entire Rococo dining room to the Metro-politan Museum of Art in New York, where it remains one of the American museum’s most important English period rooms. The money raised by the sale helped the Budgett family tackle dry rot, which had been found in the house at the time.
In 1972, property developer Christopher Buxton acquired Kirtlington Park House, gardens and the immediate Capability Brown parkland, and he converted the east and west wings into separate residential units, which were sold on 99-year leases. Buxton lived at Kirtlington Park House until his death in 2017, when it passed to his kinsman, Peter Buxton, and his wife, Eleanor.
During their tenure, they have improved and redecorated the house and enjoyed it as a much-loved family home at the same time as building an exclusive wedding and events business to help fund the renovation works. These included repairs to the roof, stonework, windows and interiors, with upgrades to plumbing, electrical and wifi systems, and the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms.
Approached via a long, sweeping drive from the edge of the village, Kirtlington Park House comprises a central block of four floors flanked by two wings, and entered via a grand external staircase that leads to the piano nobile — the principal floor centred around an impressive hall with plasterwork by Thomas Roberts of Oxford.
Over the great fireplace carved by John Cheere is a magnificent Grinling Gibbons carving of 1695, acquired by the Dashwood family long before they built the main house.
The saloon to the rear of the house is a ball-room with a 36ft-high ceiling. Radiating from this is a series of elegant reception rooms, including the drawing room, the original dining room (the marble fireplace of which is a skilful copy of the original by John Cheere, now in the Metropolitan Museum), the library, with its splendid Rococo interior and exquisite plasterwork ceiling, the dining room and the morning room.
Perhaps the most charming of all, however, is the celebrated monkey room with its decorative ceiling, painted in 1760 by the French artist Andien de Clermont and depicting monkeys engaged in human sporting pursuits in the mid-18th-century style known as singerie.
The ground floor offers secondary and leisure accommodation, including a billiards room, gym, butler’s pantry, wine cellars, stores, plant rooms and a catering kitchen, with the arched former servants hall serving as a games room and cinema.
In all, Kirtlington Park House offers some 37,000sq ft of elegant accommodation, including 17 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, which are laid out across the two top floors.
In recent years, parts of the gardens have been thoughtfully refined with guidance from Tom Stuart-Smith, always respecting the original vision of Capability Brown. Meanwhile, a defining feature of the landscape is Brown’s lake in the far distance, which creates a masterful sense of perspective from the house and gardens.
Kirtlington Park House is for sale through Savills — see more details.
A version of this feature originally appeared in the June 17, 2026, print edition of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
