Ranger's House

Ranger's House Review

This handsome, early-18th-century villa, which was the Greenwich Park ranger's official residence during the 19th century, is hung with Stuart and Jacobean portraits. But the most interesting diversion is the Wernher Collection, more than 700 works of art amassed by diamond millionaire Julius Wernher (1850-1912). The collection ranges from Old and Dutch Master paintings to Renaissance jewelry and assorted pieces of decorative art and curios from the medieval period onwards. Wernher's American wife, Birdie, was a strong influence and personality during the belle époque, which is easy to imagine from her striking portrait by Sargent.