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Audley End: The 'great and splendid country house' that beguiled a king
Built to attract a visit by James I, Audley End in Essex is a hugely ambitious house that has been massively reduced, and yet remains both outstanding and magnificent. John Goodall reports; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Broadwoodside: A farm steading in the heart of a magical Scottish landscape
Broadwoodside — the home of Robert and Anna Dalrymple — is a modest farm steading in East Lothian that has been stylishly transformed into the heart of a magical landscape and garden. John Goodall admires the sympathy and humour of the project. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Castle Drogo: The extraordinary challenge of building a castle in the 20th century — and saving it from ruin in the 21st
In the second of two articles on Castle Drogo in Devon — a property of the National Trust — Clive Aslet looks at the challenges of building a 20th-century castle and the recent work of the National Trust to restore it.
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Castle Drogo: How Sir Edwin Lutyens created a place of exceptional refinement and beauty
Castle Drogo sits atop its perch in Dartmoor, Devon, one of the National Trust's most striking articles. In the first of two articles on Castle Drogo's history, Clive Aslet reveals how a fascination with ancestry encouraged a wealthy Edwardian businessman to enlist the help of Sir Edwin Lutyens to build a new castle. Main image by Robert Harding; other photographs by Dylan Thomas for Country Life.
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The Great House in Dedham: 'How wonderful it would be. The world could be beautiful again'
The architect Raymond Erith's first major work of his career subtly transformed The Great House in Dedham, Essex, to create a design poised between past and present, as Alan Powers explains.
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Inside Rory Young's remarkable home, the 'nursery of inventions' in the Cotswolds
Number 7 Park Street, in the Gloucestershire town of Cirencester, is a Cotswold townhouse which echoes the remarkable career of its restorer and creator, Rory Young. Alan Powers reflects on his influence and enthusiasms as embodied here; with photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Westminster Abbey: 1,000 years of coronations, from King Harold and William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II and Charles III
The setting of Charles III’s crowning in Westminster Abbey in London lends grandeur and history to this great ceremony. John Goodall considers the evolution of this remarkable building and its role in celebrating the authority and antiquity of the monarchy.
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West Horsley Place, Surrey: The real-life country house where the BBC's Ghosts is filmed
West Horsley Place is one of the most important historic houses in Surrey — and it’s enjoying a new lease of life as a centre for the Arts, not least thanks to its starring role in Ghosts, one of the most popular BBC comedies in years. John Goodall looks at the history of this remarkable building. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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'One of the wonders of Oxford': A look at the extraordinary Campion Hall
In the second of two articles, Clive Aslet looks at the furnishing of Campion Hall, particularly the treatment of the chapel, one of the city’s outstanding interiors. Photographs by Will Pryce.
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Campion Hall, Oxford: How Sir Edwin Lutyens cut his fees to secure the job — and ended up creating 'his best building'
The task of creating a Jesuit hall in Oxford in the 1930s was eagerly assumed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. In the first of two articles on Campion Hall, Oxford, Clive Aslet reveals the story of this remarkable building.
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Inside Windsor Castle, by kind permission of the Sovereign
As the new reign begins, John Martin Robinson takes an exclusive look at Windsor Castle, Berkshire — an official residence of His Majesty King Charles III — and in particular the recently completed representation of the State Apartments. Photographs taken in the last few days of the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
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The Reform Club: Inside 'the most magnificent club in London', almost unchanged since the days of Phileas Fogg
The Reform Club was made famous by Jules Verne as the home-from-home of Phileas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days. Yet it began life, as John Goodall discovers, as an attempt to unify the Radical and Whig interests as a coherent political force, prompting work to what aimed to be the most magnificent club in London.
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Church Cottage, Humbleton: The school that became a picture-perfect country house
Church Cottage in Humbleton, South Yorkshire, is an 1830s schoolhouse that's been reworked to create a perfect smaller country house. John Martin Robinson admires the skill of the craftsmanship and the character of the building. Photographed by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Great British Architects: Charles Barry
An immense figure in British architecture, Charles Barry introduced an Italianate Renaissance style to the UK.
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Chandler’s House: Style with sympathy, as 18th century architecture meets 21st century flourish
The sympathetic restoration of the delightful Chandler’s House — in Alton Barnes, Wiltshire — has created new, liveable and stylish interiors within potentially awkward constraints, as John Goodall discovers. Photography by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
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How Sir Giles Gilbert Scott left an indelible mark on London — and how that infuriated his critics
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s designs shaped London as we know it — but despite his famed ‘unruffled serenity’, not all of his creations were met with rapt enthusiasm. Carla Passino takes a look.
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Sir Christopher Wren: The life and times of a legendary architect, from 'miracle of a youth' to national treasure
Personable, yet naturally reserved, ‘that miracle of a youth, Mr Christopher Wren’ not only designed many of our most notable monuments, but also an artificial eye. Three centuries on from his death, Clive Aslet considers the man behind the architecture.
