Hampton Court Palace his creation, as was the second, inner gatehouse ("C") which leads to the Clock Court ("D") (Wolsey's seal remains visible over the entrance arch of the clock tower) which contained his private rooms ("O on plan"). The Base Court contained forty-four lodgings reserved for guests, while the second court (today, Clock Court) contained the very best rooms the state apartments reserved for the King and his family. Henry VIII stayed in the state apartments as Wolsey's guest immediately after their completion in 1525. In building his palace, Wolsey was attempting to create a Renaissance cardinal's palace of a rectilinear symmetrical
Hampton Court Palace and expansion work, which was intended to rival Versailles, destroyed much of the Tudor palace. Work ceased in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palace's styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a symmetrical, if vague, balancing of successive low wings. King George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace. Today, the palace is open to the public and a major tourist attraction, easily reached by train from Waterloo station in central London and served by Hampton