Ilsington House is a grey-harled William and Mary house on the edge of the village of Puddletown.
In the Middle Ages the Hastings family, later Earls of Huntingdon, had a hunting lodge on the site.
The present house was built by the 7th Earl in 1690. The north or entrance front has a long central block and projecting wings. There are hipped roofs, stone quoins, a projecting wooden cornice and tall brick chimneys.
In 1837 the brickwork was rendered and south front remodelled with Tuscan pilasters and larger windows.
The property by this time had passed by marriage to the Earls of Orford, who were descendants of Sir Robert Walpole, the early 18th century Prime Minister.
The family spent little time at the house and between 1780 and 1829 Ilsington was leased to General Thomas Garth, Principal Equerry to George III. Like many other courtiers he leased a house in the area to be near the King during his summer sojourns in Weymouth.
General Garth apparently carried on an illicit relationship with the one of the King's daughters, Princess Sophia, on her frequent trips to visit her ailing father. Sophia and two of her sisters would usually stay the last night of their journey to Weymouth at Ilsington House.
In 1800 Sophia gave birth to a son in Weymouth. The child, named Thomas, was quickly adopted by a local couple and when he was two years old he was adopted by General Garth and taken to live at Ilsington.
Thomas received some financial support from his mother but when he tried to formalise the arrangement nothing came of it and he was tricked out of documents which proved his noble birth.
When he pursued his claim further the scandal broke in the press and the royal family finally settled £3,000 a year on the boy. Thomas' paternity was never revealed but General Garth, despite being 30 years older than the princess, was assumed to be the father.
In 1862 the Ilsington estate was sold to John Brymer, a local man, who added a new porch, billiard room and conservatory. When the present owners, Peter and Penelope Duff, bought the property in 1979 it had been empty for two years. They carefully restored the building and have refurnished the house with fine period pieces.
The Hall retains its original wooden staircase with twisted balusters and the late-17th century bolection panelling. The stairs lead up to the principal reception rooms on the first-floor. These include the Drawing Room with late-18th century plasterwork added by Thomas Garth and a bedroom used by Princess Sophia.
As soon as it was possible Penelope Duff set about adorning the walls of Ilsington House with the collection of paintings and sculpture that she had been acquiring since she was of 12 years old.
The paintings includes work by Toulouse Lautrec, Cecil Beaton, Peter Mahone and Panyiotis Kalorkoti (the official war artist for the Falklands War). The sculpture includes pieces by Elizabeth Frink and Serena de la Hey.
Outside the present owners have also carried out extensive restoration of the gardens
Not Known
