A few Sundays ago, I decided to visit one of the National Trust property's that is fairly local to where I live but have never managed to get there. Basildon Park is a beautiful house and it has an amazing past, most of which I'd fairly recent.
During the war, the building was used by the armed forces. It was left in a very bad state of repair when hostilities ceased and the house was put up for sale. The house and estate was purchased by Lord and Lady Iliffe and they both set out to restore the house back to its former glory. Lord and Lady Iliffe owned national newspapers and so had the funds to refurbish the house.
With the refurbishment, the house took on a homely feel as that is exactly what it became, a home. Lord and Lady Iliffe lived here and enjoyed the house to its fullest. As can be seen from the kitchen images, it was very much home and the owners liked to entertain.
The kitchen is fitted very much to the era when it was installed, during the 1950's. Many of the items in the kitchen will be recognised by many people.
This is a great place to visit and the house was lived in by Lady Iliffe until her death in 2007. Once the house had been fully refurbished, Lord and Lady Iliffe handed over the house and grounds to the National Trust with a large endowment in 1978, although both continued to live there until their respective deaths.
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