Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Chiswick, in the west of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in London, the house was built and designed by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, completed in 1729; the house and gardens occupy 26.33 hectares. The garden is one of the earliest examples of the English landscape garden. After the death of its builder and original occupant in 1753 and the subsequent deaths of his last surviving daughter, Charlotte Boyle in 1754, his widow in 1758, the property was ceded to William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Charlotte's husband. After William's death in 1764, the villa passed to his and Charlotte's orphaned young son, William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, his wife, Georgiana Spencer, a prominent and controversial figure in fashion and politics whom he married in 1774, used the house as a retreat and as a Whig stronghold for many years. Prime Minister George Canning died there in 1827. During the 19th century the house fell into decline, was rented out by the Cavendish family.

It was used as an asylum, the Chiswick Asylum from 1892. In 1929, the 9th Duke of Devonshire sold Chiswick House to Middlesex County Council, it became a fire station; the villa suffered damage during World War II, in 1944 a V-2 rocket damaged one of the two wings. The wings were demolished in 1956. Today the house is a Grade I listed building, is maintained by English Heritage; the original Chiswick House was a Jacobean house owned by Sir Edward Wardour, built by his father. It is dated c. 1610 in a late 17th-century engraving of the Chiswick House estate by Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff, was constructed with four sides around an open courtyard. Wardour sold the house to Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset in 1624; the house was quite large: in the 1664 Hearth Tax documents it is recorded as having 33 fireplaces. The house was at the south end of the Royalist line in the Battle of Turnham Green, during the First English Civil War; the house was purchased by Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan in 1682.

The Jacobean house was used by the Boyle family as a summer retreat from their central London home, Burlington House. After a fire in 1725, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington head of the family, decided to build a new "villa" to the west of the old Chiswick House. During his trip to Italy in 1719, Burlington had acquired a passion for Palladian architecture, he had not inspected Roman ruins or made detailed drawings on the sites in Italy. Another source of his inspiration were drawings he collected, including those of Palladio himself, which had belonged to Inigo Jones and his pupil John Webb. According to Howard Colvin, "Burlington's mission was to reinstate in Augustan England the canons of Roman architecture as described by Vitruvius, exemplified by its surviving remains, practised by Palladio and Jones."Burlington, himself a talented amateur architect and "Apollo of the Arts", designed the villa with the aid of William Kent, who took a leading role in designing the gardens. Burlington built the villa with enough space to house his art collection, regarded as containing "some of the best pictures in Europe", his more select pieces of furniture, some of, purchased on his first Grand Tour of Europe in 1714.

Construction of the villa took place between 1726 and 1729. After Burlington's death in 1753, his wife, Lady Dorothy Savile, daughter, who had married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire in 1748, inherited the house. Charlotte died in December 1754, Lady Burlington died in September 1758. After the death of Lady Burlington in 1758, the villa and gardens passed to the Cavendish family. William Cavendish died in 1764, leaving the property to the 5th Duke of Devonshire. In 1774, William married Lady Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, who enjoyed spending time at Chiswick which she referred to as her "earthly paradise", she invited members of the Whig party to the house for tea parties in the garden. In 1788 the Cavendish family demolished the Jacobean house and hired architect John White to add two wings to the villa to increase the amount of accommodation; the duchess was responsible for the building of the Classical Bridge in 1774, designed by the architect James Wyatt, the planting of roses on the walls of the new wings and the sides of the buildings.

She died in 1806. In 1813, a 300 feet conservatory was built by Samuel Ware, with the purpose of housing exotic fruits and camellias. Gardener Lewis Kennedy built an Italian inspired geometric garden around the conservatory. In 1827, after a rapid decline in health, Tory Prime Minister George Canning died in the same room where Charles James Fox had died in 1806. Between 1862 and 1892 the villa was rented by the Cavendish family to a number of successive tenants, including the Duchess of Sutherland in 1867, the Prince of Wales in the 1870s, the Marquess of Bute, patron of the architect William Burgess, from 1881 to 1892. From 1892, the 9th Duke of Devonshire rented the villa to Doctors Thomas Seymour and Charles Molesworth Tuke, it was used by them as a mental hospital, the Chiswick Asylum, for wealthy male and female patients until 1928; the asylum was praised for its compassionate approach to its inmates. The wings of the house used for the asylum were demolished in the 1950s so little now remains of this use, e

Finding Home is a 2003 American romantic drama film starring Geneviève Bujold, Lisa Brenner, Louise Fletcher and Johnny Messner. The film marked the last full-length feature film appearance of actor Jason Miller; this is a story about family and loss. It follows a young woman named Amanda, her journey in rediscovering the past. After finding out her grandmother has died, she finds herself inheriting her grandmothers B&B located on a small island. Going back to the island digs up mixed emotions and memories that Amanda must work through, while figuring out whether or not to sell the B&B. During her stay at the B&B, Amanda uncovers her grandmothers past and gets to the bottom of what happened the summer she was forced to leave the island she once loved. Lisa Brenner as Amanda Misha Collins as Dave Geneviève Bujold as Katie Louise Fletcher as Esther Jeannetta Arnette as Grace Sherri Saum as Candace Johnny Messner as Nick Andrew Lukich as CJ Justin Henry as Prescott Jason Miller as Lester Brownlow Jennifer O'Kain as Young Esther Laura Thoren as Young Amanda Kyle Gallner as Young Dave Alexandra Palmari as Little Amanda Sandy Ward as Julian the Lobsterman William Bookston as Chuck the Postman Sean Blodgett as Delivery Boy The film has a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Norm Schrager of Contactmusic.com awarded the film one and a half stars out of five. Roger Ebert awarded the film one star. Finding Home on IMDb Finding Home at Rotten Tomatoes

The Worshipful Company of Upholders is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. "Upholder" is an archaic word for "upholsterer". In past times upholders carried out not just the manufacture and sale of upholstered goods but were cabinet makers, soft furnishers and valuers; the organisation was formed on 1 March 1360 and incorporated by a Royal Charter granted by Charles I in 1626. The Company had the right to set standards for upholstery within London, to search and destroy defective upholstery. However, over the years, the Company's power has eroded, as has the profession of upholsterers, because of the advancement of technology; the Livery's purpose today is: To Uphold the livery of the Upholders, ensuring it continues to flourish. Upholding the craft of the Upholder and through charitable giving uphold individuals and organisations connected with our trade and Livery. In support of the upholstery and soft furnishing trade the Livery provides prizes and bursaries to students studying these crafts.

It gives Merit Awards to companies achieving the highest standards of craftsmanship and Master Craftsman awards to individuals. Working with the Association of Master Upholsterers and Soft Furnishers it is developing a "Centres of Excellence" scheme for colleges and other organisations to ensure the skills of traditional upholstery are taught and passed on to professionals and enthusiasts. In 2017 the first Upholders' apprentice to complete his training through Livery Companies' Apprenticeship Scheme was awarded his certificate by the Lord Mayor of London; as well as working with the AMUSF the Company supports the Guild of Traditional Upholsterers. The Livery provides a small number of pensions to pensioners in special need who have worked in the trade. Upholders arranged the funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson and the Livery is proud to include undertakers today. Members of the company continue to be involved with the funerals of national figures; the name undertaker has Upholder as part of its root.

The Livery through its charities the Peter Jackson Charity and the Neville Hayman Charity supports its crafts & craftsmen, other charities connected with the City of London and the armed forces. The Livery has close connections with TS Upholder, the Chelmsford Sea Cadet unit; the Livery and Liverymen are involved in many organisations and charities in the City of London including Castle Baynard Ward Club, as the site of the Company's Hall until the Great Fire in 1666 is in the Ward. The Company is the forty-ninth in the order of precedence for Livery Companies, its motto is Sustine Latin for Uphold the Good. John Houston, Feather Bedds and Flock Bedds Official website