 Historian James Lees-Milne described the house in 1942 as "dirty and in decay", and Merlin Waterson, former director of historic properties at the National Trust, said it was "much depleted when it came to the Trust".Its state rooms were almost empty, but as well as many paintings and items of furniture belonging to the Onslow family, the house also contained some 18th-century porcelain, textiles and furniture donated by Hannah Gubbay, a member of the Sassoon family.It was extensively restored and redecorated between 1968 and 1970 by the interior designer John Fowler, who set out to "capture the spirit of the rooms and its period rather than to replicate exact historical detail".