Sir John had lived on Rodney Street, Liverpool and decided that he wanted to move his young family away from the city centre. The mansion was built on of Litherland marsh, four miles (6 km) north-northwest of Liverpool. The name Seaforth was taken by Gladstone from the title of Lord Seaforth, the head of the MacKenzie family, to which his second wife's mother belonged. Gladstone also built two cottages for his wife's sisters on the land.
