John Sheffield (1648-1721) was made Duke of Buckingham in 1703 at the same time that he was rebuilding the house he had acquired at the end of St James's Park - Buckingham House. The principal courtyard and facade of the completed house, possibly designed by William Winde, can be seen in Colen Campbell's 'Vitruvius Britannicus' of 1715; a plan of the gardens by Henry Wise also survives. This landscape provides a rare view of the garden facade of the Duke's house. We can see the rear of the quadrant wings enclosing the courtyard and the wall surrounding the formal garden area (which appears much more squashed up against the house than it was according to Wise's plan) and the formal deer-park (with a canal running down the middle just visible at the right edge). A public road passes the foreground and Westminster Abbey is visible in the background. This image could date from any time after the completion of the house in 1705 and the erection of two towers (not visible here) on the west front of Westminster Abbey in 1745. It is most likely to have been commissioned to celebrate the completion of one of London's grandest town houses in c. 1705.