An historic country villa that was designed by a famous English painter reopened its doors to the public this week.

The house of JMW Turner, Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham, was originally built circa 1813 and has now been restored following a £2.4 million conservation programme made possible by National Lottery players.

The aim of Turner’s House Trust was to conserve and present the house for the public to enjoy the artist’s vision and original design for a small country retreat.

Catherine Parry-Wingfield, chairman of the trust, said: “This little house is of worldwide importance as a work by JMW Turner, England’s great landscape artist and, unusually, it is one of three dimensions.

“We are proud that, thanks to the support of our major funder the Heritage Lottery Fund, other foundations and local supporters, we have been able to conserve Sandycombe Lodge for the benefit, enjoyment and education of future generations.”

Later conservation work was needed when the building began to deteriorate after Professor Harold Livermore, who last owned the house, died in 2010.

It was placed on the Historic England’s Register of Buildings at Risk in 2013.

Speaking about the efforts to restore the Grade II listed building, Catherine said: “It’s absolutely fantastic because the last owner left the house to the trust and it was his wish that it would be a gift to the nation.

“It has been a massive conservation project. We have had funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, other funding organisations and private donations.

“So after a huge amount of work and a big number of specialists, we think what we have managed to achieve is absolutely remarkable.”

Several prints of Turner’s paintings have been hung following the conservation, including his celebrated Liber Studiorum series along

Gary Butler, the appointed conservation artist, said: “As our creative demolition work progressed we revealed clear evidence of the earlier form of the building, [with] scars in the brickwork confirmed our initial suspicion of later changes and structural addition.

“But the first real surprise occurred once we took down the ceiling of the rooms in the raised wings, revealing the original flank walls of the main block of the house, which had remained hidden for almost 200 years.”

Turner’s House will be open to visitors from Wednesday to Sunday, with self-guided visits from 10am to 1pm and guided tours from 1pm to 4pm.

Concessions for adults is at £6 with children aged between five and 15 going for £3 and under-fives going for free.

For more, visit http://turnershouse.org/visit-us/