The British Ambassador's residence in Athens opened its doors to the Athenian public, giving 180 visitors that had booked a place on this year's "British Residence Open Day" a tour of the British residence and the British School at Athens on Sunday. 
Considered one of the most attractive neoclassical houses in Athens, the British residence was formerly the home of Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos and has housed the activities of the British Embassy in Athens since 1936. The tour of the residence included a visit to Venizelos' historic library, while that at the British School at Athens took in the Library, Fitch Laboratory and Upper House, as well as the exhibition Prosaic Origins by Andreas Lolis in the gardens, which is curated by Nayia Yiakoumaki and is part of the Neon City Programme 2018.
The tour was sold out and as UK Ambassador Kate Smith revealed in tweets on her personal account with photographs of the garden and the interior of the British Residence and the British school, the enthusiastic response has already started thinking about the next British Open Day. 
She also expressed great pride in the British Residence's garden, which she called an "oasis" in the centre of Athens, and warmly thanked the Elefterios K. Venizelos Research Foundation for its assistance and providing the personal items used by Venizelos that were sent to the British Residece for the open day.
Ambassador Smith also noted that one of the most important works of art in the British Residence, located in the ballroom, is a portrait of Lord Byron, a notable philhellene, painted by Thomas Phillips of the Royal Academy in 1813.
The history of the British Residence begins in 1928 when the second wife of Eleftherios Venizelos, Elena Skylitsi, a scion of a wealthy family of ship owners, entrepreneurs and bankers, bought the plot of land at the corner of Vassilisis Sophias Avenue and Loukianou Streets from the National Bank of Greece. The building was designed by Anastasios Metaxas, an architect of the neoclassical school, and was completed in 1932, having cost the then astronomical sum of 100,000 pounds.
When Venizelos died in 1936, his wife decided to sell the house and, due to her strong ties with Britain, made an offer to the British government, which bought the house for 46,000 British pounds. The first resident was the British Ambassador Sydney Waterlow and it has since housed 22 successive British ambassadors, while initially it also housed the offices of the embassy.
Visitors that have stayed in the building have included members of the British royal family and British politicians, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.