Buscot Park

What does Sleeping Beauty, Rembrandt, and the tallest sundial in England have in common? If you said “they all obviously call Buscot Park home” then you are correct.

Situated near the town of Faringdon in Oxfordshire, England, the country house was constructed in the early 1780s and passed down through the Faringdon family. Pieces by Rembrandt, Burne-Jones, Botticelli, and Gainsborough adorn the walls along with a 34-foot-long ten-panel retelling of Sleeping Beauty known as “Legend of the Briar Rose” which graces the saloon.

Outside the home the sprawling grounds play host to gardens filled with flowers, fountains, and sculptures. Past the country’s tallest sundial sits a monumental urn which holds the ashes of the much-loved 2nd Lord Faringdon with his partner, housekeeper, and chauffeur.

Though the estate came into the possession of the National Trust in the 1940’s, this remains the family home of the current Lord Faringdon, who continues to care for the property, the family’s art collection, and takes full responsibility for the interior design decisions of the property. He notes that “any reservations you may have – about the internal colour schemes, the changes in the walled gardens or the way we open the property – must be laid fairly and squarely at my door and not that of the National Trust, for the Trust plays no part in the day-to-day running of Buscot Park, nor on the vermilion reds or the germolene pinks we may choose.”

The estate is open to the public daily and even has a fishing pond on the premises. But if you have any issue with the extensive rules surrounding how, when, and where on the property you can cast your rod, please be sure to take it up with Lord Faringdon himself.

He “hopes you enjoy your visit; as a family, we will endeavour to maintain a country-house setting . . . that will appeal to those who want to be spared the depressing conformity and bloodless feeling of so many houses now open to the public.” And for that, we ask, “Where can we purchase our tickets”?

Written By: Accidentally Wes Anderson