Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a monumental country house in Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The palace is named for the 1704 Battle of Blenheim, and thus ultimately after Blindheim (also known as Blenheim) in Bavaria. It was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his
Blenheim Palace for wholesale dispersal of Blenheim and its contents. The first victim was the great Sunderland Library which was sold in 1882, including such volumes as "The Epistles of Horace", printed at Caen in 1480, and the works of Josephus, printed at Verona in 1648. The 18,000 volumes raised almost £60,000. The sales continued to denude the palace: Raphael's "Ansidei Madonna" was sold for £70,000; Van Dyck's Equestrian Portrait of Charles I realised £17,500; and finally the "piece de resistance" of the collection, Peter Paul Rubens' "Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and Their Son Peter Paul, and Their Son Frans (1633–1678)",