Lionel, sold the Gunnersbury estate, which was entirely contained within the Brentford Urban District, to the adjacent Ealing Borough Council and Acton Borough Council for £130,000. The land lay entirely outside their boundaries. The "Queen of the Suburbs" did not want more municipal housing, as would likely be built by Brentford under its policies, on its doorstep and the Mayor of Acton concurred, persuading her Borough Council to make it a joint purchase. Following the First World War, there was a demand for house-building land. In addition the construction of the Great West Road, immediately south of the estate, was attracting modern industries along its "Golden Mile". Lionel Nathan de Rothschild had bought for his use Exbury House in 1919, by the English Channel and was investing in its fine, tourist attraction today, woodland garden, so selling Gunnersbury facilitated this. Disgruntled Ealing ratepayers wrote to the papers complaining about the burden on their rate bills. The adjacent Brentford and Chiswick Borough Council commented that since Ealing already had The Common and several other parks, not to mention Kew Gardens close by, another park would be unnecessary. They insisted that the greater part of the land should be used for housing, and opposed the loan of the purchase money to Ealing and Acton from the Ministry of Health. Depending on political view, "civic pride" or "snobbery" prevailed, and the Rothschilds sold Gunnersbury on condition that it was only to be used for leisure and recreation save for houses to abut Popes Lane and Lionel Road to help repay the loan. When he opened the park on 21 March 1926, Neville Chamberlain "...rejoiced that the people had come into the possession of so magnificent and historical park..." He bemoaned the failure of earlier generations to recognise the need for open spaces in the towns and cities, when outdoor recreation was the privilege of the few. The large mansion was converted into an exhibition space for local history and archaeology, costume and fine art as the Gunnersbury Park Museum in 1929. An adjoining area of Rothschild land just outside the Gunnersbury estate became the Gunnersbury Cemetery the same year. The park passed to the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965 and the Gunnersbury Park Joint Committee with Ealing was set up in 1967. 21st century A £50 million-pound, four-year restoration was completed in June 2018 with the reopening of the large mansion. The