Watlington House is Grade II* listed and is one of the oldest domestic houses in Reading. The western or rear part of the building dates back to 1688 and the eastern part, fronting on to Watlington Street, dates from around 1763. The house was built for Samuel and Anne Watlington, with Samuel serving two terms as mayor of Reading in 1695 and again in 1711.
In 1877 the house became the home of the newly founded Kendrick Girls School where it remained until 1927. Since 1931 the house has been managed by a trust and lets rooms to charitable and educational organisations, the income of which pays for the upkeep of the house.
The Mills Archive was set up in 2002 and moved shortly after to Watlington House, using a room on the top floor as an office. Now with increased staff, and with many new collections arriving they have several rooms in the house to house the extensive library of milling books, archive and there is a special Founders Room on the first floor. The Archive is the repository of mill related material, covering not only the UK, but the rest of the world. They now have extensive material on modern wind and water turbines.
The walled garden behind the house was re-created in 2015.