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Sandringham House has not been admired by critics. Its chief fault is the lack of harmony between Humbert's original building and Edis's extensions, "a contrast between the northern and southern halves of the house (that) has been much criticised ever since".{{sfn|Walch|2012|p=53}} The architectural historian [[John Martin Robinson]] wrote in 1982, "Sandringham, the latest in date of the houses of the British monarchy, is the least distinguished architecturally".{{sfn|Robinson|1982|p=187}} In his biography of Queen Mary, [[James Pope-Hennessy]] compared the house unfavourably to "a golf-hotel at St Andrews or a station-hotel at Strathpeffer".{{sfn|Hall|1994|p=168}} [[Simon Jenkins]] considered Sandringham "unattractive", with a "grim, institutional appearance".{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|p=530}} Pevsner described the architectural style as "frenetic";{{sfn|Pevsner|Wilson|2002|p=627}} Girouard expressed himself perplexed as to the preference shown by the royal family for A. J. Humbert,{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=419}} a patronage the writer Adrian Tinniswood described as "the Victorian Royal Family's knack for choosing second-rate architects".{{sfn|Tinniswood|2016|p=47}} An article on the house in the June 1902 edition of ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' opined, "of mere splendour there is not much, but of substantial comfort a good deal".{{sfn|Cornforth|1988|pp=103–105}} The writer [[Clive Aslet]] suggests that the sporting opportunities offered by the estate were the main attraction for its royal owners, rather than "the house itself, which even after rebuilding was never beguiling".{{efn|Queen Elizabeth II had a more ambivalent attitude to the house's merits than either her father or her grandfather. James Pope-Hennessy recorded a conversation with the Queen's aunt, [[Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester]], in May 1957. "[We] discussed Sandringham and how ugly it is. Princess Alice said that she had 'once asked [[Elizabeth II|Lilibet]] shall I burn the house down for you? I'm quite ready to. Would you mind?' To which the Queen had answered 'I am not sure whether I should mind'."{{sfn|Pope-Hennessy|2019|p=211}}}}{{sfn|Aslet|2005|pp=284–285}}
The fittings and furnishings were also criticised; the biographer of George V, [[Kenneth Rose]], wrote that, "except for some tapestries given by Alfonso XII,{{efn|These were the [[Goya]] tapestries hung in the dining room.{{sfn|Mackworth-Young|Ransom|1993|p=7}}}} Sandringham had not a single good picture, piece of furniture or other work of art".{{sfn|Rose|2000|p=291}} Neither Edward VII nor his heir were noted for their artistic appreciation; writing of the redevelopments at Buckingham Palace undertaken by George V, and previously by Edward VII, John Martin Robinson wrote that, "the King had no more aesthetic sensibility than his father and expressed impatience with his wife's keen interest in furniture and decoration".{{sfn|Robinson|1982|p=189}} In the series of articles on the house and estate published in 1902 by ''Country Life'' to celebrate Edward VII's accession, the author noted the royal family's "set policy of preferring those pictures that have ''associations'' to those which have merely artistic merit".{{sfn|Hall|1994|p=168}} Exceptions came to include works from the collection of mainly 20th-century English art assembled by the Queen Mother, including pieces by [[Edward Seago]] and [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]], who produced a view of Sandringham.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clarke |first=Andrew |date=26 February 2010 |title=Queen Mother's art collection revealed |url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/queen-mother-s-art-collection-revealed-1-86830|newspaper=East Anglian Daily Times }}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=13 May 2006 |title=The Queen Mother's life in pictures |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1518249/The-Queen-Mothers-life-in-pictures-goes-on-show-at-the-Palace.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1518249/The-Queen-Mothers-life-in-pictures-goes-on-show-at-the-Palace.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph }}{{cbignore}}</ref> John Piper's sombre palette did not always find favour with Queen Elizabeth or her husband, George VI remarking, "You seem to have very bad luck with your weather, Mr Piper".<ref name="auto4"/> The house also has an extensive holding of works by [[House of Fabergé|Fabergé]], the world's largest, assembled by Queen Alexandra and later members of the family,<ref name="auto5">{{cite web|url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/about-the-collection/decorative-arts/faberge|title=Fabergé|publisher=The Royal Collection Trust|access-date=5 August 2018}}</ref> which includes representations of farm animals from the Sandringham estate commissioned by Edward VII as presents for his wife.<ref name="auto5"/>
Although not highly regarded as architecture, Sandringham is a rare extant example of a full-scale Victorian country house, described in the magazine ''Country Life'' as "lived in and beautifully maintained, complete with its original contents, gardens and dependent estate buildings".<ref name="auto"/> The house, the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are listed [[listed building|Grade II*]] on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]], Grade II* being the second-highest listing, reserved for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".<ref name="auto1"/>
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