Walpole’s interest was primarily the Medieval period. That is why at Strawberry Hill, both interiors and exteriors, were designed in the Gothic Revival style. But he also employed the finest contemporary designers, builders, and craftsmen of his day to copy examples of the style he admired but could not actually own.

Chimneypiece in the round drawing room. ©Ferne Arfin

The chimneypiece in the Round Drawing Room, pictured here, was designed by Robert Adam, one of the Adam brothers, famous Scots architects and designers. The design is after the 13th-century tomb of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey. An original Adam design for the chimneypiece is now kept at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. (Read more about this unusual museum from blogger Kathryn Burrington at Travel with Kat.)

The patterns and pictures, meant to resemble a mosaic of colored stones (below), are actually marble inlaid with scagliola, a polished combination of pigments, glue, and plaster of Paris. During restoration, many original features – including handpainted wallpapers in some of the rooms – emerged from under layers of paint and grime.​

The chimneypiece is decorated with a polished combination of pigment, glue and plaster of Paris known as scagliola.

A set of wrought iron gates guarded the entrance to “The Tribune”, a small, square room that was Walpole’s cabinet of curiosities. Most visitors gained a glimpse of this room through the closed gates. Only the most important guests were invited inside to examine the treasures close up. That included opening the rosewood cabinet, designed by Walpole himself, which held a priceless collection of miniatures and valuables. Today the cabinet can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) though, sadly, its contents have been scattered.

The collections at the V&A also include miniatures by English and French artists, a remarkable carved “cravat” made by the 17th and early 18th-century woodcarver, Grinling Gibbons (watch a video), and an assortment of decorative silver, gilt and enameled objects. The British Museum holds a beautiful crystal scepter mounted with gold, enamel, and pearls. And, if you head for Glasgow, stop at the Burrell Collection, in the center of Pollock Park, to see if you can find the champlevé enamel on a copper casket or “chasse” that is a model of the shrine of Thomas à Becket.

How all these beautiful things were scattered to the four winds (literally – there are pieces in museums in America, Australia and all over Europe), came down to a nasty divorce among Walpole’s eventual heirs.

And there’s more

The arrangement of rooms at Strawberry Hill is maze befitting Walpole’s obsessions.  A path through the house starts in a gloomy hall, with a Gothic staircase, lit from above by four skylights. Some of the rooms to see along the way include:

• The Great Parlour, once the dining room, with copies of the original black Gothic chairs (now held by the British Museum) and the first of many impressive chimneypieces
• Blue Bedchamber, with a copy of Sir Robert Walpole’s bed and a family portrait, made for this room and on loan from the National Gallery.  The remarkable gilt frame is a computer printed reproduction. made from more than 30 separate pieces, printed and then assembled.