York House

York House stands in Twickenham, a short walk from St Mary’s Church along Richmond Road. Built in the 1630s for Andrew Pitcarne, a courtier of Charles I, it later passed to Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, and then to Henry Hyde, son of the Lord Chancellor. Count Ludwig von Starhemberg, the Austrian ambassador, owned it in the early 19th century before it passed to sculptor Anne Seymour Damer. Sir Alexander Johnston, founder of the Royal Asiatic Society, lived here until 1863, and the Orléans Pretender’s children were born in the house. It became a council office in 1924 and still serves as a municipal building today. The house is worth the journey for its layered history and grand setting beside the Thames. The Duke of York opened the new council chamber in 1926, the same year Twickenham became a borough. Sir Ratan Tata turned the riverside gardens into an Italian-style lawn for lavish parties before the First World War. Film crews later chose the interiors for Alfie in 1966 and The Cure shot a video in the grounds. The Grade II* listed building remains a working town hall while keeping its stately past alive. Visitors find a mix of civic rooms and historic spaces. The council chamber, opened by the future King George VI, still hosts meetings. The sunken lawn behind the house hosts summer theatre, and a stone footbridge crosses the public road to the riverside gardens. The front lawn doubles as a car park and tennis courts, while the rear stretches to the Thames with open lawns and mature trees. The house itself holds portraits and furnishings from its grandest days, quietly watched over by the borough’s daily business.