Waddesdon / United Kingdom
Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, with over 466,000 visitors in 2018.The Grade I listed house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild as a weekend residence for entertaining and to house his collection of arts and antiquities. As the manor and estate have passed through generations of Rothschilds, the collection contained inside has grown and is among the most rare and valuable in the world. In 1957, James de Rothschild bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust, opening the house and gardens for the benefit of the general public. Unusually for Grade I listed residences, the family who donated it still manages it. The Rothschild Foundation, chaired by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, acts as custodian and continues to invest in the property making it, to some extent, a living residence.Located in the Aylesbury Vale, 6.6 miles west of Aylesbury, Waddesdon Manor won Visit England's Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category in 2017.