Take a virtual field trip to Kenwood House before you visit the works of art at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
In 1927, Lord Iveagh gave this house, its grounds, and a portion of his own art collection to Great Britain. Now, Kenwood House is a historic house and art museum open to the public.
Have your students use the Google Earth program to locate Kenwood House on the world map. Encourage them to look at it from many different angles. How big does it seem? Is this a house they would like to live in?
Students should also look at the official Kenwood House website to see other images of the Kenwood House and Gardens.
Have students look particularly at selection 3, Humphry Repton, where they can find an image of the London cityscape as seen from the Kenwood estate. You might want to ask your students to figure out how far Kenwood House is from London (Trafalgar Square is a good central point in the city for them to use). How do the images of the city of London differ from those of Kenwood House?
Today, people of all ages and backgrounds use the grounds at Kenwood as a park. Check out this YouTube video of a sunny day at Kenwood for a taste of what it’s like to actually be there—and to get a scale of the house itself (it’s huge!).