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Holkham Hall: 'there are few places a modern visitor can get so close to the realities of life on the grand scale in 18th-century Britain'
John Goodall revisits the splendours of Holkham Hall in Norfolk, a celebrated house — and the seat of the Earl of Leicester — created in the mid 18th century by Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester.
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Urban streams: The forgotten history of Britain's drinking fountains
The need for clean water in 19th-century Britain led to a new and magnificent genre of street furniture. Kathryn Ferry examines the drinking fountain.
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The great houses of The Strand, 'London's Golden Mile' that 'helped shape England’s architectural identity’
A scheme to pedestrianise parts of The Strand is throwing light on the road’s gilded history, finds Jack Watkins.
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Monmouth House: The utterly breathtaking transformation of a great London townhouse
Monmouth House, Hyde Park Gate — an 1860s coach house that's a home of Hamish Ogston — has been internally reconfigured to dazzling effect with the help of the finest contemporary craftsmanship. Jeremy Musson reports.
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Kenwood House: How one of London's most famous landmarks was saved from destruction
It’s almost inconceivable nowadays to think that one of London’s most famous landmarks was once destined for redevelopment. A century on from the fight to save it, Jack Watkins finds out what happened
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Farringford: The story of the Isle of Wight bolthole of Alfred, Lord Tennyson
After nearly 60 years as a hotel, this former home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson has been triumphantly restored as a house museum. John Goodall reports; photography by Paul Highnam.
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Hall Place, Hampshire: The fabulous house where the Duchess of Cornwall spent her idyllic childhood summers
Hall Place in West Meon, Hampshire, is currently the home of Michael and Claudia Langdon. Yet for many years it was owned by the grandparents of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. The house, so well known to The Duchess in her childhood, was specially chosen by her for coverage in her guest-edited issue of Country Life. It is revealed in a new light by fresh documentary research, as John Goodall reports. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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How the Glorious Revolution changed the nature of the English country house
John Goodall looks at the English home in the aftermath of the ‘Glorious Revolution’, in the latest in his series about the development of the great house on these shores.
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Gustavus III: The designs of the king who dreamed he was an architect
Many monarchs of the Enlightenment showed an active interest in architecture. Inspired by a new facsimile of royal drawings from Sweden, Clive Aslet looks at the designs of Gustavus III.
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Blenheim Palace: The story of the English answer to Versailles
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire — the seat of the Duke of Marlborough — is one of the outstanding palaces of Baroque Europe, and was planned as both a residence and national monument. John Goodall revisits this extraordinary building; photographs by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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Longstowe Hall: The superb country house that makes you feel like you've 'stepped into a 17th-century Dutch painting'
Longstowe Hall, Cambridgeshire — the home of William and Mercedes Bevan — is an Elizabethan house that was remodelled by an Edwardian industrialist who created superb interiors in the aesthetic of 17th-century Dutch art. Jeremy Musson takes a look; photographs by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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Inside Kelmscott Manor, William Morris's 'heaven on earth' in the Cotswolds
Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, is a house that was beloved of William Morris, the poet, designer and founding father of the conservation movement. Today it's a property of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and has been subject to an exacting programme of repair and renovation as Jeremy Musson reports. Pictures by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Willards Farm: A spectacular reimagination in the spirit of Lutyens and the Arts-and-Crafts Movement
The imaginative extension of a farmhouse in the spirit of Lutyens and the Arts-and-Crafts Movement has created a delightful and humane family home, Jeremy Musson reports. hotographs by Paul Highnam.
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English houses in the age of Shakespeare: How late-Tudor and Jacobean architecture shaped the way we live
John Goodall looks at the architecture of late-Tudor and Jacobean homes in the period 1560-1630, taking a look at Engoish homes through the eyes of Shakespeare.
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Georgian farmhouses: The architectural marvel of Britain’s agricultural revolution
Georgian farmhouse architecture is an easily overlooked feature of the changes that shook Britain in the 18th century. John Martin Robinson reveals the interest and importance of these buildings.
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Auckland Castle: 800 years as a bishop's palace, and now open to the people for the first time
Auckland Castle, Co Durham, has served as the palace of the Bishops of Durham for 800 years. Now, after a huge restoration programme and large-scale archaeological investigation, it has been opened to the public. John Goodall reports, with photography by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Radbourne Hall: Inside the halls of a 'playful, magnificent, secret and rather magical place'
An award-winning restoration project has addressed serious structural problems at Radbourne Hall, Derbyshire, the home of Sir James and Lady Chichester. This important Palladian house has been brought back to life as a modern family home, as Oliver Gerrish reports. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
