Hartwell House

The property was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and belonged to William Peverel. The core of the present house was constructed in the early 17th century for the Hampden family and then the Lee family. The Lees, an old Buckinghamshire family, acquired Hartwell c.1650 by marriage into the Hampdens.

William Henry Smyth, one of Lee's regular scientist guests invited to discuss theories "year after year" at Hartwell, who had helped with the design of the telescope and cupola that Lee had installed, described the house and the Hartwell Observatory established there, in Ædes Hartwellianæ: Or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell (Printed for private circulation, by J.B. Nichols and Son, London, 1851). Many of the illustrations in the book are by Smyth's wife Annarella and by his son-in-law, Rev. Prof. Baden Powell.

Following the acquisition by the National Trust in 2008, it was suggested that arrangements would be made for the gardens and grounds of the hall to be open to visitors, along with tours of the ground floor rooms.