Pitzhanger Manor

Pitzhanger Manor stands in Walpole Park in the London Borough of Ealing. It is a Regency country house designed and built by the architect Sir John Soane between 1800 and 1804. Soane intended it as a family home and a place to entertain guests, showcasing his architectural skills and his collection of art and antiquities. The house replaced an earlier building on the same site, parts of which had been designed by George Dance the Younger, Soane’s former employer. Soane’s work included a two-storey south wing he had helped create as an apprentice, which he retained and admired. The house is worth visiting because it offers a rare chance to see a building designed, built and lived in by Soane himself. After Soane sold it in 1810, the house passed through several owners before becoming a public library in 1902. Later it housed a lending library and then a gallery of contemporary art from 1996. In 2015, a major conservation project restored the Grade I listed building to Soane’s original designs. The work was led by Ealing Council with support from the Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Inside, visitors find rooms with Soane’s signature features: quartered and canopy dome ceilings, inset mirrors and wooden panelling. The central section of the house displays these elements, while the east side once held mock Roman ruins and a kitchen block. The 1938–40 library extension now serves as the Pitzhanger Gallery, showing contemporary art exhibitions. The house and gallery sit in Walpole Park, offering a quiet setting within Ealing’s urban landscape.