Blenheim Palace is a country house in the English county of Oxfordshire. It is the home of the Dukes of Marlborough and England's only non-royal, non-episcopal country residence with the title of palace. The palace was erected between 1705 and 1722 and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is one of England's biggest residences.
The palace takes its name from the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. It was designed as a prize for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough's military victories against the French and Bavarians during the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. The property was handed to Queen Anne as a gift, and building began in 1705, with some financial assistance from her. The project was rapidly marred by political infighting, with the Crown canceling further financial assistance in 1712, Marlborough's three-year voluntary exile on the Continent, his duchess's fall from authority, and long-lasting harm to the architect Sir John Vanbrugh's reputation.
The palace was designed in the unusual and short-lived English Baroque style, and architectural opinion is as split now as it was in the 1720s. [3] It is remarkable in that it serves as a family home, tomb, and national monument all at the same time. The palace is renowned as Sir Winston Churchill's birthplace and ancestral home.
With the construction of the palace, it became the residence of the Churchill (later Spencer-Churchill) family for the following 300 years, with various generations of the family influencing the interiors, park, and gardens. The palace was spared from collapse towards the end of the nineteenth century thanks to funding raised by the 9th Duke of Marlborough's marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt.