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Ranger's House Review

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Ranger's House

Address: Chesterfield Walk, Blackheath, Greenwich, London, SE10 8QX | Map It
Phone: 020/8853-0035
www.english-heritage.org.uk

Category: Houses/Mansions
Location: Greenwich

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Fodor's 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 650 works of art with a northern European flavor, amassed by diamond millionaire Julius Wernher at the turn of the 20th century. After making his money in diamond mining, he chose to buy eclectic objects, sometimes beautiful, often downright quirky, like the silver coconut cup now on show in the house. Sèvres porcelain and Limoges enamels, the largest jewelry collection in the country, and some particularly bizarre reliquaries also form part of this fascinating collection. 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.

Cost: £5.50
Open: Apr.-Sept., Sun.-Wed. 10-5; Oct.-Dec. and Mar., by appointment only (only if you have a group of more than 11)
Tube: DLR: Greenwich; no direct bus access, only to Vanbrugh Hill (from east) and Blackheath Hill (from west)

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