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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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Arundel Castle: The creation of one of England's great princely seats
In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at the early development of the celebrated Arundel Castle, West Sussex, now the seat of the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, and a creation of the powerful and wealthy medieval Earls of Arundel. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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'The ideal of a Scottish castle': 800 years of Dunvegan Castle, one of Scotland's great fortresses
One of Scotland’s most celebrated and anciently occupied castles has undergone a decade of restoration and renovation. John Goodall reports, with photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Hellifield Peel Tower: The miraculous revival of a medieval tower in Yorkshire
Hellifield Peel Tower in North Yorkshire was not so long ago a decaying shell. Now, this medieval peel tower has undergone a near miraculous restoration and revival as a family home. Jeremy Musson reports. Photographs by Christopher John for Country Life.
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Curious Questions: Why was John Nash, London's most celebrated architect, despised in his own lifetime — and for decades afterwards?
John Nash is the man responsible for London's most beautiful buildings — yet he was once as reviled as he is now revered. Carla Passino retraces his life to see how his star rose, fell and rose again.
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Crosby Moran Hall, London: A collector’s palace
Crosby Moran Hall is an outstanding celebration of the Tudor and Stuart worlds that has passed another important milestone in its history. Clive Aslet reports.
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How a 'scarred and degraded' landscape became a 21st century Reptonian marvel with a dream country house at its heart
A landscape previously used for intensive farming has been turned into the setting of an idyllic new country house in a classical idiom. Jeremy Musson reports; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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A third of a millennium since it opened, the Royal Hospital Chelsea's work is as vital as it ever was
Roger Bowdler looks at the evolution of the Royal Hospital Chelsea as a working institution to the present day and, in particular, at the contribution of Sir John Soane.
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The Royal Hospital Chelsea: Inside Christopher Wren's masterpiece in SW3
This year is the 300th anniversary of the death of Sir Christopher Wren. In the first of two articles, Roger Bowdler revisits the Royal Hospital Chelsea, one of his most celebrated creations, and the SW3 landmark whose grounds host the annual Chelsea Flower Show.
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Villa Ventorum: The Newt's recreation of a 2,000-year-old Roman house in the heart of Somerset
The reconstruction of Villa Ventorum — a Romano-British villa at The Newt, Somerset — has prompted a wonderful experiment in living archaeology. Bronwen Riley steps into the past. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
