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A "floating bridge", or chain ferry (Mon-Sat 5am-midnight, Sun 6.35am-midnight; pedestrians free, cars GBP1.30) connects West Cowes to the more industrial East Cowes, where the only place of interest is Queen Victoria's family home, Osborne House (April-Oct daily 10am-5pm; grounds April-Sept daily 10am-6pm; Oct 10am-5pm; GBP7.20; EH), signposted one mile southeast of town. The house was built in the late 1840s by Prince Albert and Thomas Cubitt as an Italianate villa, with balconies and large terraces overlooking the landscaped gardens towards the Solent. The state rooms, used for entertaining visiting dignitaries, exude an expected formality, while the private apartments feel more homely, like the affluent family holiday residence that Osborne was - far removed from the pomp and ceremony of state affairs in London. Following Albert's death, the desolate Victoria spent much of her time here, where she eventually died in 1901. Since then, according to her wishes, the house has remained virtually unaltered, allowing an unexpectedly intimate glimpse into Victoria's family life. At Whippingham , a mile south of Osborne, there's another of Albert's architectural extravaganzas, the Gothic Revival Royal Church of St Mildred (Easter-Sept Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Oct closes 4pm). The German Battenberg family, who later adopted the anglicized name Mountbatten, have a chapel here and the parents of the present Queen's late uncle, Earl Mountbatten, the island's last governor, are buried in the churchyard.
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