Holland Park history

The area now known as Holland Park was originally part of the grounds of Holland House. This was a Jacobean mansion built for Sir Walter Cope, who was James I’s Chancellor. The house was built in 1606 and called Cope’s castle. It passed into the Holland family when Cope’s daughter married the Earl of Holland. He was executed by the Parliamentarians in the Civil War, and the house was confiscated, but it was restored to Lady Holland when Charles II came to the throne. Holland Park was built on part of the estate near Bayswater Road which was sold off for housing development in 1866 to pay for the family’s lavish lifestyle.