Portal:South East England/Selected article/5

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Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.

The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Prince Albert designed the house himself. The builder was Thomas Cubitt, the London architect and builder whose company also built the main façade of Buckingham Palace. An earlier, smaller house on the site was demolished.

The house was always the favourite of Victoria, who spent many summer months there. It became the nearest thing to a family home her children were to know. The grounds include a 'Swiss Cottage' complete with rooms built on miniature scale for use by the Queen's children. The children also had their own adjoining garden.

Following Albert's death in 1861, it continued as one of her favourite homes. As a widow, Victoria always spent Christmas at Osborne. Marconi later transmitted some of the first radio messages to Victoria at Osborne to keep her abreast of the state of health of her son Edward, when he was seriously ill at Sandringham.