In the 1750s the Stonors sold the house to John Tilson, who had a new house built to a compact Palladian design and re-used at least part of the older house as servants' quarters. Late in the 19th and early in the 20th century, subsequent owners altered and enlarged the Tilson house. Oliver Brett, later Viscount Esher, bought Watlington Park in 1921 and continued enlarging and modernising it. In 1954 his successor Major Lionel Brett, an architect, demolished all the extensions and the remains of the 17th century Stonor house[3] and added pedimented pavilions of his own design.[4]
In 1967 Lionel Brett, by now 4th Viscount Esher, built the modernist Tower House for himself in a wood away from the hamlet.[5][6] Christmas Common has never been populous. The 1811 census named the hamlet as a liberty and reported that it had only six inhabited houses.[3] The Church of England parish church of the Nativity was designed by the architect Walter Cave.[5] It was built in 1889 as a chapel of ease to save Anglican residents from travelling 2 miles (3 km) downhill to the parish church, St Leonard's in Watlington. It was made redundant in the 20th century and is now a private house.
The surrounding beech woods and local rights of way are popular with walkers, cyclists, horse riders and birdwatchers. The National Trust provides a car park at Watlington Hill on the edge of Christmas Common. The area is a good place to see red kites, which had been extinct in southern England but were successfully reintroduced in 1989.[9] The hamlet has a dog-friendly public house and restaurant, the Fox and Hounds, controlled by W.H. Brakspear & Sons.[10][11]
