The Stowe site was first used as a manor and rectory by Sir George Gifford MP when it was built in the 16th century. It became the home of the Temple family in 1589, who pulled the original buildings down and built the main house which is on site today. The first architect of the house was William Cleare, who worked for Sir Christopher Wren. Later, in the 1740s, the western and eastern state apartments were expanded, and lots of work was done to the southern part of the house and its interiors. Two Ionic columns were put up on the North Front in 1770, and since then there haven’t been any significant changes to the outside of the house. Most of the house is built in a neoclassical style and the rooms testify to this extravagant design, with high ceilings and striking architectural features. 

Stowe has over 400 rooms; one highlight would be the Marble Saloon, which is based on the Pantheon and has red and white Doric marble columns and an elaborate plaster dome. The State Dining Room measures 75 by 25 feet, and there are three libraries in the house: the Large Library, Gothic Library and the Ante-Library. These held an enormous collection of books and manuscripts belonging to the 1st Marquess of Buckingham.The Stowe Manuscripts, as they became known, are a collection of 2000 manuscripts from the 12th to the 14th centuries, and most of them are now kept at the British Library. 

Most of the valuable artworks, furniture and silverware were sold after the 2nd Duke of Buckingham went bankrupt in the 1840s. Anything that hadn’t been sold was put up for auction in the 1920s, but some items and portraits have been brought back since then, such as the Medici lion sculptures on the steps leading to the lawn. The house became a school in 1922 and an anonymous donor provided money for an endowment in 1989, when it was then passed to the National Trust. In 1997, the building was bought by the Stowe Preservation Trust, an independent charity which aims to restore and look after the rooms. 

The gardens and grounds at Stowe are owned by the National Trust and were designed by three major 18th-century garden designers: Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, and Capability Brown. They were transformed from an English baroque garden into a landscape park and you can visit them independently from the house.