Stuck at Home? Virtually Tour Buckingham Palace!

As many cultural sites close and governments urge social distancing due to coronavirus, it's unfortunately not the best time to go out and explore the historic homes of the world. But, thanks to virtual tours available online, you can enjoy the stunning architecture and interior design of many significant homes from the comfort of your own couch. Below, House Beautiful has rounded up 10 houses from across the globe that can be seen on a screen. Let the armchair tour begin!

Vizcaya is a Mediterranean Revival-style villa with Baroque elements that was once the home of businessman James Deering. The estate currently consists of 43 acres, but was previously located on an impressive 180 acres. It took eight years and $15 million to build the villa, and another year to complete the Italian Renaissance-style gardens and Vizcaya Village, which consists of 11 buildings across 12 acres, including greenhouses, fields, staff quarters, a garage, barns, and workshops.

This Beaux Arts-style mansion located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was once home to Henry Clay Frick, one of the most prominent industrialists during the Gilded Age. Expect to see Old Masters paintings, decorative arts, and European sculptures in this former residence turned art museum. The Frick Collection is located on Fifth Avenue and is one of the last remaining Gilded Age mansions in New York City. It became a museum in 1935, and since then, the public has been able view Frick’s expansive collection of artwork, which includes Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Whistler, Bellini, Vermeer, and Goya, to name a few.

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At just 26 years old, future President Thomas Jefferson inherited a plantation in rural Virginia. An architecture enthusiast, Jefferson himself devised a combination of Neoclassical and Palladian architecture for the estate that would come to be known as Monticello. It is now a National Historic Landmark, and, along with the University of Virginia—which was also one of Jefferson’s designs—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If Monticello looks familiar to you, it’s probably because it’s on the reserve side of the nickel.

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In 1958, just four years after Frida Kahlo’s death, her eye-catching, bright blue house in Mexico City became a museum. Not only was Frida Kahlo born and raised in this historic home, it was also where she lived with her husband and fellow painter, Diego Rivera, and later, where she passed away. Diego Rivera donated the house in 1957 so that it could be turned into a museum in honor of his late wife. Kahlo’s house has since been operating as both a historic house museum and an art museum for over 60 years, and it is now the most visited museum in Coyoacán. Artworks by both Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are on display in the home.

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The onetime home of Isabella Stewart Gardner was built in 1903 and is a designated Boston Landmark. As is evident when looking at the home's Instagramable courtyard, the building was inspired by a 15th-century Venetian palace. Isabella Stewart Gardner once said that she wanted her extensive art collection to be exhibited “for the education and enjoyment of the public forever.” Well, so far, so good! The museum is home to American, Asian, and European art, including paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and decorative arts.

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This spooky Gothic Revival mansion, built in 1838, was once the home of railroad tycoon Jay Gould. It sits on 67 acres and overlooks the Hudson River. The National Historic Landmark home was used as a filming location for The Blacklist, Project Runway, House of Dark Shadows, and Night of Dark Shadows, to name a few. Former owner Jay Gould had a 243-foot yacht built so that he didn’t have to take the nearby railroad built by his archnemesis, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Talk about rich people problems...

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Mount Vernon began as a one-and-a-half story home built by George Washington’s father, Augustine, in 1734. It went on to become the plantation of George and Martha Washington, the first President and First Lady of the United States of America. The architectural style of the home is described as loose Palladian, which is a European style inspired by Ancient Greek and Roman structures. Mount Vernon was expanded twice during George Washington’s lifetime, in the late 1750s and in the 1770s, and it was his home until his death in 1799. In 1858, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association acquired the historic home and saved it from ruin by restoring it.

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Mark Twain (real name: Samuel Langhorne Clemens) lived with his family in this Victorian Gothic-style home from 1874 to 1891. This is where Mark Twain wrote novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and A Tramp Abroad. It was Mark Twain and Charles Dudley who coined the term “Gilded Age,” given the title of their 1873 novel, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Events held at the home have included appearances by fellow novelists Judy Blume, Stephen King, and John Grisham.

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To end this list with a bang, look no further than Blenheim Palace, the former home of Consuelo Vanderbilt and her husband, the ninth Duke of Marlborough. It was the $2.5 million dowry of Consuelo’s father, William Kissam Vanderbilt—which translates to $76.8 million today—that made the restoration of this historic palace possible. Blenheim Palace has been used as a filming location for a variety of films, including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Gulliver's Travels, Cinderella, Spectre, Orlando, Transformers: The Last Knight, Dolittle, and Hamlet. It was also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

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