Hatfield House is a
country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of
Hatfield,
Hertfordshire,
England. The present
Jacobean house, a leading example of the
prodigy house, was built in 1611 by
Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to
King James I and has been the home of the Cecil family ever since. It is a prime example of Jacobean architecture. The estate includes extensive grounds and surviving parts of an earlier palace. The house, currently the home of
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, is open to the public.