Hylands House, Chelmsford, Essex, is situated in 574 acres of historic landscaped parkland. Originally built in 1730 as a modest red brick Queen Anne style house, it has changed and developed considerably throughout its history. Nine private owners, each keen to stamp their mark on the house and estate, extended or remodelled the property according to their tastes and the fashion of the day. One owner engaged Humphry Repton to redesign the parkland and enlarge the house in line with the Romantic Movement fashionable at the time. Hylands' many roles have included private home, a military hospital during the First World War and SAS headquarters in the Second World War. Following a 20-year programme of restoration to the house and landscape, including Repton's parkland with magnificent views from the house to the lake, the house and the park opened to the public.