Customer Reviews

The English Country House: From the Archives of Country Life 1897-1939

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Since its initial publication in 1897, the magazine "Country Life" has served as a window into the country homes of Great Britain. Through its lavishly illustrated articles readers could glimpse their architecture and decor, while the property advertisements permitted them to indulge in a little fantasizing. The decades of publication allowed the magazine to build up an impressive archive of photographs of these homes, with some of these images becoming irreplaceable as the houses were altered or destroyed over time. This book, the inaugural volume of a new series, dips into this collection to offer a look at a number of English country houses of varying sizes and styles. The houses shown are:

Ightham Mote

Herstmonceux Castle

Little Moreton Hall

Bramshill

Combe Abbey

Canons Ashby

Sudbury Hall

Castle Howard

Houghton Hall

Buxted Park

Wentworth Woodhouse

Clumber House

Syon House

Heveningham Hall

Alnwick Castle

Eaton Hall

Kelmscott Manor

Sandringham House

Deanery Garden

Charters

With each house the name of the current owner (as of the book's publication) is provided, as well a description of its history supplemented with quotes from the articles published about the homes over the years. Though the text is informative, it is the black-and-white photographs which are the book's main strength. Hundreds of images are used throughout its pages, showing the homes, their interiors, and the grounds. Combined with the descriptions they make this book a nice introduction to some of the great country homes of England, one that, like the magazine, allows the reader to imagine what life in these houses might be like.