Bridgerton, the iconic Netflix series, is an adaptation of Julia Quinn’s novel of the same name. It follows the story of a family of 8 tight-knit siblings and the success of their love story in the Regency era’s London.
It is a historical fiction story, so several things exist in the universe of the story due to poetic license that you may not find in our universe, but there are many that have stood the test of time and await our presence even today.
So, dearest gentle reader, as our heart dances to the tune of the many orchestral renditions of modern music, we cannot help but take a flight of fancy to visit a few of the majestic palaces and mansions that have themselves become a character of their own in the Bridgerton universe.
Bridgerton House or Ranger’s House
The sight of the Bridgerton family home is more familiar to some in today’s age than the royal palaces. That house is none other than the Ranger’s House, formerly known as the Chesterfield House.
It is a Palladian-style Gregorian mansion with a beautiful rose garden that has been standing near Greenwich Park in Blackheath, southeast London — for over 300 years.
Once upon a time, the house belonged to Princess Augusta, who we can partially hail as one of the many real inspirations behind Violet Bridgerton. At present, the mansion belongs to the Ranger of Greenwich Park and is an English Heritage site.
The mansion tells us a fragment of Bridgerton’s story. When you visit it in real-time, you will see the ornate walls and the background that graces our screen every season, along with over 700 other priceless works of art.
Some of the famous artworks living in the Ranger’s House are Renaissance paintings, including the Madonna of the Pomegranate (Madonna della Melagrana) from Sandro Botticelli’s workshop, Dutch Old Masters, medieval sculptures, glittering enamels, ornate jewelry, and French tapestries.
Undoubtedly, the most prized possession is perhaps the Wernher Collection, a world-class art collection by the 19th-century businessman Sir Julius Wernher.
The Wernher Collection features many things, including ceramics, which seem to be identical to the many ceramics we see onscreen in Bridgerton.
Ranger’s House is open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. We recommend booking your tickets from the official website of the British Heritage for ease of access.
Lady Danbury’s House or Holburne Museum of Art
This author’s personal favourite character and dearest to the Queen is Lady Agatha Danbury. Due to her outgoing nature, which is quite in line with her day-to-day busy life, we rarely get to see the inside of the Danbury House in its original state prior to Season 3. However, those big walls of the Holburne Museums speak amply for Lady Danbury.
Located in Bath, Somerset, residing over the Great Pulteney Street and providing a gateway for the Sydney Pleasure Gardens, this building has witnessed several grand balls and promenades of the upper echelons, as the Sydney Hotel.
The real-life Queen Charlotte lived in the Sydney Palace opposite the Sydney Hotel whenever she visited Bath.
At present, the building is a modern public museum known as the Holburne Museum, where contemporary exhibitions take place throughout the year to showcase art of the past and present in dynamic ways.
There is also a garden cafe that you can visit to sip on some high tea or afternoon tea and get a feeling of being a part of the Bridgerton universe, and there is a museum shop as well.
The museum is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.
Featherington House or No. 1 Royal Crescent
The Featheringtons in the story are seen to be very gaudy, almost as if painted with gauche. The Featherington House pales in comparison to the other grand mansions, but in real life, The Royal Crescent presents a row of 30 terraced houses standing together, forming a crescent shape.
No. 1 Royal Crescent was one of the first houses constructed in The Royal Crescent, Bath. The house has lived through the lives of many of its owners, from wealthy landlords to minor clerks to seminaries for young women. Interestingly enough, the last royal honorary of the house, Baron Sandford, perhaps found himself involved in many scandals, some of which were anonymously published in local newspapers.
We cannot help but draw an immediate comparison to Lady Whistledown, although you would never catch her being so callous as to keep highlighted newspaper cuttings of her foes in her house.
At present, the historic Gregorian house in Bath houses the Herschel Museum of Astronomy. It is from this very house William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.
Visit the museum to gaze at the many wonderful things that have contributed to the study of the cosmos and art while taking a peak at the cosmos through the 3D telescope.
The Museum is open from Feb 1 to Dec 31, Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm. We recommend purchasing tickets prior to your visit for a smooth experience. The Museum of Bath Architecture, Beckford Tower, and The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa are also located at the No. 1 Royal Crescent.
The Promenade or Wilton House
Anytime this bright green luscious area along with the Palladian Bridge appears onscreen, you know somewhere out there is a mama who is trying to scheme with other members of the ton to get her daughter noticed by one of the Bridgertons or perhaps Lady Danbury or daughters running away from the ruses, daring to dream about a life without all these pacts.
Whichever character you find yourself aligning with, you cannot deny the evergreen charm of the over 450-year-old Wilton House and the Palladian Bridge promenade.
The house is the residence of the Earl and Countess of Pembroke and is open to the public from Monday to Wednesday from 11.30 am to 3.30 pm and on Thursday and Sunday from 11.30 am to 5.15 pm. You can avail of guided tours between Mondays and Wednesdays.
Tickets to the Wilton House and Grounds, including the dining room, library, hunting room, garden cafe, adventure playground, and gift shops, can be purchased from the Wilton House grounds upon arrival.
Queen Charlotte’s Residence or Blenheim Palace
We see more of the magnificent Blenheim Palace in “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” than in the actual series. However, we could not create a list of dreamy palaces without including a visit to Oxfordshire, the grandest example of Baroque architecture in Britain.
The palace was constructed as a token of appreciation to the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, from Queen Anne for their victory at the Battle of Blenheim. Queen Anne’s gardener designed the grounds of the palace to mirror those of the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles.
As style changed over time, so did the pastoral style of the gardens, and the landscape at Blenheim Palace is said to have a naturalistic Versailles look now.
The Belheim Palace is now a UNESCO Heritage Site. It is a tranquil getaway 20 minutes away from Oxford. It showcases the marriage of baroque art and nature with a deep history.
The palace also has formal gardens offering lakeside walks, an outdoor adventure playground, several cafes and restaurants like Orangery Restaurant, Oxfordshire Pantry, Stables Cafe, and a quaint shopping area where you can buy a variety of items produced at the estate, like honey and other locally sourced items.
The Palace and the formal gardens are open daily from 10.30 am to 4.45 pm, the park is open from 9 am to 5 pm, and the palace shops and restaurants are open from 9.30 am to 5 pm.
We recommend booking tickets from the official Blenheim Palace website for the best experience.
Bonus: Cowper Family House or the Pitzhanger Manor
The Pitzhanger Manor used to be the home of Britain’s most influential neoclassical architect. If you ever looked at the Cowper House and felt like you were looking at a painting where nothing could be disturbed, it is because the house was built to give off such an illusion.
A house suitable for a dynasty of architects and, in the Bridgerton universe, a house deemed worthy of a family that almost seemed frozen in a gilded cage.
The Gregorian house is now a contemporary art gallery filled with bright colors and artworks. It also has 2 cafes and a beautiful park. The working hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. We recommend booking your tickets ahead of your visit from the official website for a comfortable experience.
Dearest gentle reader, with that, this list comes to an end. We hope the series and our little list will inspire you to “… to live each hour as if it’s your last, and each day as if you were immortal. …” and attend a soiree of your own at one of these palaces.
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This article was first published in Wego.
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