Originally a manor owned by the Bishop of London in 1378

 In 1760, the house and estate were purchased for Princess Amelia, favourite daughter of George II. It was she who landscaped the park in the 18th century style.
Amelia died in 1786. 

In 1835, the merchant and financier Nathan Mayer Rothschild purchased the Large Mansion and park shortly before he died.
The Small Mansion and its grounds were acquired by the family about fifty years later, finally reuniting the original estate.

 In 1925, following the death of Nathan’s grandson Leopold de Rothschild, Leopold’s wife, Maria, and son Lionel, sold the 200 acre Gunnersbury estate
to the Ealing and Acton borough councils for £130,000. The transaction was fortunate indeed for the local residents. Following the Great War, there was a demand
for housing and building land in the area. The Rothschilds could have got a much greater price had the land been sold for that purpose. Mrs de Rothschild sold Gunnersbury
as a permanent memorial for her husband – under the condition that it was only to be used for leisure.