Forest Lodge, so called for its position surrounded by woodlands in Windsor Great Park, is a fine Georgian-era mansion, built in the 1770s and sensitively enlarged and renovated over the years since. Before adopting its current moniker, the house was called ‘Holly Grove’, though was changed to Forest Lodge, considered a more refined name, by Edward VIII in 1936. Since being acquired by the Crown in 1829 it has played host to a string of impressive residents, including Sir William Fremantle, Sir John Aird, and Sir Malcom Murray.
Renovations to Forest Lodge in 2001.
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Its red brick, perfectly symmetrical façade is suitably grand, with the running count of chimneys and bay windows being six and nine respectively. Inside offers all of the Georgian-era loveliness that you would expect of a house of this prestige, including plasterwork, cornicing, venetian windows, marble fireplaces and a vaulted ceiling in the entrance hall. Restoration works were carried out on the house in 2001, which saw many of these details painstakingly repaired.
Renovations to Forest Lodge in 2001.
John Stillwell – PA Images/Getty Images
In 1998 the house was available to rent for £60,000 a year through Knight Frank estate agents, and its newest residents will be privately paying rent on the property too. Though little has been revealed of the interiors of the house, we do know that it is currently undergoing ‘light renovations’ including new doors and windows, removal of some internal walls, ceiling repairs and new floors, which is being paid for personally by William and Catherine. The couple has also announced that – as is the case in Adelaide Cottage – they will have no live-in staff, preferring the privacy that this would offer them. According to the Sunday Mirror, the couple are also installing new privacy measures at the house, which include having new trees and hedges planted along with fences, presumably to keep them from public view.