Perched just above the banks of the Thames in Greenwich lies the royal palace known as Queen’s House.  The site of royal residences since at least the 1400’s, legend has it that the grounds were gifted by King James I to his wife Anna of Denmark as an apology for having sworn at her after she accidentally killed one of his favorite hunting dogs.

The Queen’s House was originally built as a royal residence but is now part of the National Maritime Museum and houses a substantial collection of maritime paintings and portraits

Inside the Queen’s House the Tulip Stairs are the first geometric self supporting spiral stairs in Britain

The distinctive black and white marble flooring

Anna subsequently hired the famous architect Inigo Jones to design a new palace on the grounds, and the result was the first classical building in England in “modern” history.  And the impact of Queen’s House was long felt – when Christopher Wren was commissioned to design the Royal Naval Hospital between the Thames and the palace, he settled on the split building design in order not to block the queen’s view of the river.

Checking out some of the portraits

Lord Nelson

Sir Francis Drake

Queen Elizabeth I