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Seeing the light: The lasting legacy of Sir John Soane
For Sir John Soane, the tools of the trade included skylights, tinted glasses and mirrors, as much as classical motifs, bricks and mortar. Carla Passino retraces the life of the man who chased the poetry of architecture and left an extraordinary gift to the nation
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From Windsor Castle and the Reform Club to the house where Ghosts is filmed: Country Life's best architecture stories of 2023
We take a look back at a wonderful year of architecture articles in Country Life, including an astonishing look inside Windsor Castle with pictures taken just days before the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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The architecture of Henry James: How real-life country houses found their way into the work of one of our greatest writers
The stories of Henry James are full of descriptions of country houses. Jeremy Musson explores the messages these houses convey, with the help of specially commissioned drawings by Matthew Rice.
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Britain's most eccentric crooked buildings, from the pub that looks tipsy to the church that leans more than the Tower of Pisa
Warped, twisted and wonderfully wonky, who can fail to be intrigued by the quirky glory of Britain’s medieval buildings? Rob Crossan explores the asymmetrical charm of the crooked house.
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Somerton: The ruined medieval castle transformed into a magical family home
The sensitive restoration of a neglected medieval castle has created a delightful family home, as Nicholas Cooper discovers. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
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Seven things you need to know about restoring a glasshouse
Lucy Denton shares expert insight into bringing a glasshouse back to its former glory with care and consideration, plus the experts to consult when you need assistance
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The engineering genius of Britain's great Victorian glasshouses — and how many are in a battle to avoid 'The Spiral of Doom'
Whimsical and ethereal, as well as feats of engineering, Victorian glasshouses are a reminder of pioneering progress and deserve sensitive restoration, says Lucy Denton.
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St James's Palace: An exclusive look inside the British monarchy's oldest, quirkiest and most mysterious palace
Created as a secure residence for Henry VIII’s heir, St James’s Palace has become the modern home of the Court. Simon Thurley, editor of a new history of the palace, explains the remarkable history of this little-known building. Photographs by Will Pryce.
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Ballone Castle: How a roof-less shell inhabited by cows became medieval modernism at its finest
The restoration of the ruined tower house that is Ballone Castle in Easter Ross — the home of Lachie and Annie Stewart — has created the opportunity for a remarkable contemporary essay in the spirit of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement, as Mary Miers discovers. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The Englishness of English architecture
A major new survey of architecture in Britain and Ireland from 1530 to 1830 will be published this autumn. Its author, Steven Brindle, teases out the qualities of one of its most elusive central themes.
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St Bartholomew’s Hospital: 900 years of service
This year, two connected institutions in the heart of London — St Bartholomew’s Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Church — celebrate their 900th anniversary. In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at their foundation story. Photographs by Will Pryce For Country Life.
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St Bartholomew-the-Great: A living fossil in the City of London
In 2023, two connected institutions in the heart of London — the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great and St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield, London — celebrate their 900th anniversary. In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at their foundation story. Photographs by Will Pryce for the Country Life Picture Library.
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Shilstone House: A grand conception magnificently realised
Work to a new drawing room in the Jacobean style brings to completion the remarkable rebirth of Shilstone House in Devon, the home of Sebastian and Lucy Fenwick. John Goodall reports.
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Curious Questions: Why did London never have a building to rival the Eiffel Tower?
England and France competed fiercely for bragging rights in the 19th and early 20th centuries — but no version of France's most famous building ever came to fruition. That wasn't for the lack of trying, though, as Martin Fone discovers.
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Spetchley Park, the country house with interiors that have evolved with the centuries in breathtaking — and surprising — fashion
John Goodall looks at the stylish interior reinvention of Spetchley Park, Worcestershire, the home of Henry and Kate Berkeley, a grand Regency house on an estate that's been home to the Berkeley family for more than four centuries.
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Spetchley Park: One of Britain's best-ever architectural accidents
John Goodall tells the story of how a stable was replaced by a splendid Regency seat to create Spetchley Park, Worcestershire, the home of Henry and Kate Berkeley. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The feudal splendour of Arundel Castle's magnificent interiors
Arundel Castle in West Sussex — the seat of the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal — is every bit as spectacular within as it is from outside. John Martin Robinson describes the transformative representation of the Victorian interiors over the past three decades. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
