Ivy Cottage is a private three-bedroom home on the grounds of Kensington Palace—not a publicly accessible palace apartment. Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have been associated with it since 2018, and recent reporting describes it as their London base while Portugal serves as their primary residence. Published images reveal a compact, white-trimmed cottage with a picket fence and climbing roses; inside, only brief glimpses of a personal office or study are available.
A cottage-sized home inside a palace estate
Ivy Cottage is a three-bedroom residence on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London. It has been associated with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank since around their 2018 wedding, but it is not a miniature version of the palace’s grand State Apartments. The available evidence presents something much more intimate: a compact, traditional-looking home used as the couple’s London base.
That distinction matters. Ivy Cottage is a private residence, while Kensington Palace’s State Apartments, exhibitions and gardens form part of the public visitor experience operated by Historic Royal Palaces. There is no public Ivy Cottage tour, and the limited photographs available do not justify a complete room-by-room description.
Why Ivy Cottage’s setting is part of the story
The cottage’s appeal comes partly from its unusual surroundings. Kensington Palace began life as Nottingham House, a country residence chosen by William III and Mary II in 1689. Successive Stuart and Georgian monarchs expanded and transformed it into a fashionable royal home.
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Queen Victoria spent her childhood at Kensington Palace before moving to Buckingham Palace after her accession. In later years, the palace became closely associated with members of the extended royal family, including Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales, and the modern Prince and Princess of Wales.
Historic Royal Palaces describes Kensington as a royal residence with more than three centuries of history. Ivy Cottage is therefore not an isolated celebrity property: it is one small domestic unit within a historic and still-functioning royal estate. The phrase “royal commune,” sometimes used in media coverage for the collection of residences around Kensington Palace, is colorful shorthand rather than an official designation. The verified point is that several royal homes and working functions exist within or around the estate.
Read more about Kensington Palace
For a broader look at the building surrounding Ivy Cottage, Kensington Palace: Art, Architecture and Society, edited by Olivia Fryman, examines the palace’s architecture, interiors, collections, royal residents and domestic history. It is a history of Kensington Palace—not a private photographic tour of Ivy Cottage.
What the outside of Ivy Cottage looks like
Published photographs show a home with a markedly different visual character from the ceremonial image of Kensington Palace. Ivy Cottage has been pictured with white framing around its windows and front door, a white picket fence and climbing roses against the brickwork.
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The result is compact, traditional and almost storybook-like. Its low roofline and apparently low ceilings have also contributed to descriptions of the cottage as cozy. Those observations come from published imagery, however. They are not verified architectural measurements. There is no reliable public source establishing the cottage’s exact square footage, ceiling heights, garden dimensions or formal architectural style.
The contrast is what makes the exterior interesting: the address carries the weight of royal history, while the visible frontage suggests an ordinary-scale family home rather than a grand palace apartment.
Inside: a rare glimpse, not a complete home tour
Eugenie and Brooksbank have kept Ivy Cottage largely private. Interior evidence comes from brief appearances in photographs and video calls rather than from an official tour or published floor plan.
One report from 2025 showed a glimpse of what appeared to be a compact office or study. The room had dark-blue walls, matching shelving and television cabinetry, a large screen, photographs, candles and other decorative objects. The view suggests a personal, modern space with a more intimate scale than the formal rooms associated with Kensington Palace.
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For that reason, descriptions such as “a glimpse showed” and “published images suggest” are more accurate than definitive claims that the cottage contains a particular style or arrangement throughout. Details sometimes repeated online—including exact room sizes, branded furnishings and designer attributions—should be treated cautiously unless supported by a primary source.
Is Ivy Cottage still the couple’s main home?
The answer depends on whether “main home” means their London residence or their primary base overall. Eugenie and Brooksbank’s connection with Ivy Cottage dates to 2018, but their residential arrangements have changed over time.
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During the period from late 2020 into 2022, reporting associated the couple with Frogmore Cottage. Later coverage again described Ivy Cottage as their UK base. More recent reporting places Portugal at the center of the family’s life, with Ivy Cottage used when they are in Britain.
The safest current description is that the family divides its time between Portugal and the United Kingdom, using Ivy Cottage as its London base. It should not be described as their only home or unqualified full-time primary residence.
An Associated Press report in August 2026 said that Eugenie’s third child was born in Lisbon, Portugal. That is consistent with Portugal remaining a significant family base, although the birth report does not establish how frequently the family stays at Ivy Cottage or provide a detailed schedule of their movements.
How is a royal cottage occupied?
Royal cottages are sometimes casually described as “grace-and-favour” homes or as rent-free residences. Ivy Cottage should not be characterized that way without qualification.
The National Audit Office’s 2026 review identified Princess Eugenie as one of three non-working members of the Royal Family occupying rented accommodation in occupied royal palaces. The review recorded that the rent was paid through the Privy Purse and that Eugenie’s rent calculation had changed over time, reaching 64% of the relevant market valuation in 2026.
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That makes the more precise wording: Ivy Cottage is royal-estate accommodation subject to a rental arrangement, with the National Audit Office recording a rent calculation based on a proportion of market value. The financial arrangement is part of the wider discussion about royal housing, public money and non-working family members, but it should not obscure the central fact that Ivy Cottage is a private family residence.
What can—and cannot—be responsibly reported
- Supported: Ivy Cottage is a three-bedroom residence on the Kensington Palace grounds.
- Supported: Published images show white-framed windows and doors, a picket fence, climbing roses and a compact cottage profile.
- Supported: A brief interior glimpse showed a dark-blue office or study with shelving, cabinetry, a large screen and personal decorative items.
- Supported with qualification: The cottage has been associated with Eugenie and Brooksbank since 2018 and is described in recent reporting as their London base.
- Not established: An exact floor plan, square footage, room dimensions or confirmed bedroom layout.
- Not established: The identity of an interior designer, the brands of furniture or appliances, or the provenance of artwork.
- Not appropriate to infer: Security arrangements, private entrances, access routes or family routines from exterior photographs.
Images also require care. Private social-media photographs should not be reused without checking rights and publication permissions, even when they appear to offer a more revealing view of the home.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The small home inside the large story
Ivy Cottage is interesting precisely because it is not a palace in the conventional sense. Its white-trimmed frontage, fence and roses suggest a modest London cottage, while its location places it inside an estate shaped by monarchs, royal families and more than three centuries of history.
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The public record supports a portrait of a private three-bedroom home: charming from the outside, only partly visible inside, and now best understood as Eugenie and Brooksbank’s London foothold rather than their sole or primary residence. The less certain details are also part of the story. Ivy Cottage remains private, and the available glimpses are too limited to turn it into a reliable architectural tour.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can the public visit Ivy Cottage?
No. Ivy Cottage is a private residence. The public can visit Kensington Palace’s State Apartments, exhibitions and gardens, but that experience does not include a tour of Ivy Cottage.
Is Ivy Cottage Princess Eugenie’s main home?
Recent reporting describes Portugal as the couple’s primary base overall, while Ivy Cottage remains their London base when they are in the United Kingdom.
What is inside Ivy Cottage?
The available interior evidence is limited to brief photographs and video-call appearances. One 2025 glimpse showed a compact dark-blue office or study, but no authoritative floor plan or complete room-by-room tour is public.
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The National Audit Office’s 2026 review describes Ivy Cottage as royal-estate accommodation subject to a rental arrangement. It records a rent calculation based on a proportion of market value, so calling the home simply “rent-free” is inaccurate.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Ivy Cottage is a private three-bedroom London residence on the Kensington Palace estate. Public images show a compact, storybook-like exterior and one limited glimpse of a dark-blue study, but there is no authoritative public floor plan or complete interior tour. With Portugal serving as the family’s primary base in recent reporting, the cottage is best described as Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s London home.
