Sir Robert Napier bought the Luton Hoo estate in about 1600 with the house added later in the 17th century.

In 1763, the 3rd Earl of Bute bought Luton Hoo from Francis Herne MP. Bute was a remarkable man. He was born in Edinburgh in 1713, educated at Eton and studied law in Leiden. He married Mary Montagu, moved to London after the ’45 and became a close friend of Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales. After the prince’s death in 1751, Bute became tutor to their son, the future George III. Bute rented a house on Kew Green and as a keen botanist and plantsman, he advised Princess Augusta on the creation of the Botanic Garden at Kew.  Bute served as Prime Minister from 1762 – 1763.

At Luton Hoo, Bute commissioned the architect Robert Adam to rebuild the house and commissioned ‘Capability’ Brown to lay out the Park. Brown also designed the Walled Garden which was nearly a mile from the house. There was also an impressive glasshouse – an article in the General Evening Post of November 1783 commented that ‘…the conservatory is perhaps the most perfect in the kingdom; there are in it three divisions of sixty feet each, with breadth and width in proportion.’ Brown worked at Luton Hoo for the next fifteen years and was paid over £11,000.

Bute kept detailed lists of his plant collections and is thought one of them refers to plants grown at Luton Hoo in 1770s. It contains the names of over 1000 plants including alpines, tropical plants and wild plants from around the UK. During Bute’s time there were between ten and twelve gardeners working on the estate.

As well as Luton Hoo, Bute owned 75 South Audley Street, London (sometimes referred to as Bute House), Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute and Highcliffe in Dorset. Bute had also owned Kenwood House but he sold it to William Murray in 1754.

The house at Luton Hoo was partly destroyed by fire in 1843 and the following year, the 2nd Marquess of Bute sold the estate to John Shaw Leigh, a lawyer. Shaw Leigh rebuilt the house.

In 1899, Luton Hoo was rented by Sir Julius Wernher, a diamond merchant, who subsequently bought the estate in 1903. The house was remodelled by Charles Mewes and Arthur Davis, the architects of the Ritz Hotel in London, with William Romaine-Walker building the formal garden on the south front to Mewes’ design. Sir Julius also replaced some of the glasshouses in the Walled Garden with a complex designed by Mackenzie & Moncur.

During World War II, the house became the Headquarters of the Eastern Command with the estate used as a tank testing ground.

By 1960s, there were only five gardeners working in the Walled Garden with salads, flowers and plants grown for Sir Harold and Lady Zia Wernher. After Lady Zia’s death in 1977, the estate was inherited by her grandson Nicholas Phillips. Gradually the Walled Garden fell into decline.

After Nicholas’s death in 1991, the house and over 1000 acres were sold by his widow. The house became a hotel and was opened in October, 2007.

Charlotte Phillips, daughter of Lucy and Nicholas Phillips became fascinated by the history of the Walled Garden and in 2001, a project began to restore the Walled Garden with the help of a team of volunteer gardeners, researchers and historians.