£9m restoration of Walpole's Gothic palace to start next month

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It was announced today that work to bring Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill House back to its former glory will start in November.

The house has been on the "at risk" register since 1996. Friends of Strawberry Hill have spent six years raising the cash for the intricate work. The 18th century palace in Twickenham was bought by Walpole in 1747.

The essayist and son of Britain's first prime minister made it into one of the first and grandest examples of the Georgian Gothic period.

Conservation body English Heritage last night announced it was donating a further £400,000 to the project, taking the fund to within touching distance of the final amount.

Terry Smith, honorary treasurer of the Friends of Strawberry Hill, said: "We are hoping that the main restoration work will begin on 1 November. We still have to raise about £350,000 but we have enough to make a start at last."

Conservation work on its windows has been under way since the beginning of the year.

The main work is due to be completed by May 2010, to coincide with a Horace Walpole exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum.