The History of Osborne House

Osborne House was built between 1845 and 1851 to provide Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with a private family home. It was built in the Italianate style in order to fit its setting on an island whose temperate climate and panoramic views over the Solent reminded Prince Albert of the Bay of Naples...

Little is known of the early history of the Osborne site, but in 1705 the estate came into the hands of the Blachford family. From 1774 to 1781 Robert Pope Blachford extended and adapted an existing house into a three-storey residence, with a walled kitchen garden and a brick stable block. The substantial stone foundations of the stable block may relate to an earlier building.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House from Lady Isabella Blachford in 1845 for £28,000, because they wanted a home removed from the stresses of court life. Queen Victoria had spent two holidays on the Isle of Wight as a young girl, when her mother, the Duchess of Kent, rented Norris Castle, the estate next door to Osborne.

The setting of the three-storey Georgian house appealed to the Royals. But they soon realised that the house was too small for their needs and decided, with advisors, to replace the house with a new, much larger residence.

OSBORNE TAKES SHAPE 

The new Osborne House was built between 1845 and 1851 in the style of the Italian Renaissance, complete with two belvedere towers. Prince Albert designed the house himself in conjunction with Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company also built the main facade of Buckingham Palace.

The first phase of building was completed in 1846 with the Pavilion, housing the private rooms of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the royal nurseries. The household wing, containing accommodation for members of the royal household who accompanied Queen Victoria to Osborne, was completed in 1848.