Burghley House

This "House" was an unexpected wonderful surprise! Don and I had intended to drive to Peterborough this Saturday to see another cathedral and while browsing their town's website I learned of this place that was nearby. So we thought we'd try to do both. Burghley House, being in another town called Stamford, was a little farther away from our house so we went there first to save the cathedral for on the way back. Stamford was only about 1 3/4 hour away.

OH MY GOSH!

What a fantastic "side trip that we almost didn't do!"

This is the front view of the "HOUSE". Rather large eh? Sir William Cecil bought the house in 1563 and over the ensuing years he and his ancestors have added on. William became a Lord when Princess Elizabeth became Queen. (He risked limb and life for her during her bid for the throne and she rewarded him by making him her Secretary and Treasurer when she succeeded.)
Lord William's descendants became Earls and Marquess and thus added to the wealth of the place. There are a large number of paintings (or pictures as the British call them) throughout the house and the 5Th Earl bought over 300 himself when he and his wife traveled over to the continent (Italy, France etc) ! There are hundreds of rooms and we saw only 18 of them. But they were spectacular! (There is 2 acres of roof alone!)
There have been 18 generations that lived in this house. It is still occupied by a daughter and her family. (It was funny to see Little Tykes stuff in the courtyard from her children.) Their living areas were below on the main floor and according to one guide their private apartments are 10 times as luxurious as what we saw! They only open the house Spring through Fall and will close it this weekend. (It is hard to keep heated)

Side note: Another 2 descendants live in Oregon, USA, on their "other" properties. I wonder how grand that property is that they don't live here?