Queen Charlotte's Cottage

The cottage orné dates to a movement of rustic stylised cottages of the late 18th and early 19th-centuries: such a cottage must be in a deliberately rustic style, and typically it features a well-shaped thatch roof with ornate timberwork. A single storey is also typical, although a second storey is not unknown. 's painting]] Queen Charlotte's Cottage dates from 1772, and is one of the earliest examples of a cottage orné. The design is timber-framed with brick infill, which has been attributed to the North German vernacular which the Queen will have recalled from her childhood. The roof is thatched, and the simple doors are made of rough planks with wooden latches. The windows, which are…

From 1792 Queen Charlotte kept kangaroos in the rear paddock, until 1806 when it was turned into a flower garden by W. T. Aiton.

Queen Victoria rarely visited the cottage, but it was maintained by a housekeeper throughout her reign. The writer Sir Arthur Helps lived in the cottage on a grace and favour basis from 1867 until his death in 1875. In 1898 she gave both the cottage and Kew Palace to the public to commemorate her diamond jubilee the previous year. The gift of the cottage was conditional upon the grounds being left in an uncultivated state. Both the cottage and Kew Palace, as well as the Pagoda, are now maintained by Historic Royal Palaces and are open to visitors. In October 2021, the building was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government's Culture…