Country Life's top 10 architecture stories of 2019, from Old London Bridge to the Brighton Pavilion
Though we may of course be biased, but Country Life's team of architecture writers do justice to the greatest buildings in Britain in a way that nobody else does.


The story of Old London Bridge
Dorian Gerhold's article on 'the iconic landmark which vanished from the capital’s skyline' was fascinating — and the illustration by Stephen Conlin bringing the bridge to life was sublime.
Inside The Travellers Club, the oldest club on Pall Mall
Country Life's ability to take readers behind closed doors shone with this article about an iconic club's purpose-built Renaissance palace.
The Devon Mansion that dreamt it was Versailles
Marcus Binney looked at the notable history of Oldway Mansion, an outstanding, but little-known treasure that faces an uncertain future.
Blenheim Palace's lost ballroom re-discovered after 250 years underwater
The lower rooms of Sir John Vanbrugh’s famous Grand Bridge at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, emerged — albeit temporarily — for the first time in 250 years.
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The 600-year-old barn that's the largest standing medieval timber-framed structure in Britain
A restoration raised questions, but Edward Impey said that 'the Great Barn will continue to impress, to encourage the appreciation of such magnificent buildings and connect us today with the essential aspects of our history they represent.'
Inside the home of the Prince of Wales's favourite architect
Clive Aslet paid a visit to the house of Quinlan Terry.
I've just bought a house. It doesn't have five bedrooms, but 50.'
Avington Park, a house with 'a rare ability to beguile strangers', had some wonderful tales to tell.
From medieval castle to comfortable home – and back again
The Benington Lordship in Hertfordshire started life as a medieval castle, but has been transformed over the centuries into a comfortable house with ambitious neo-Norman additions.
‘It’s hard to imagine a more perfect time to visit this extraordinary Regency creation’
John Goodall on the sumptuous restoration of one of the most famous Regency buildings in Britain: the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.
The Arts-and-Crafts house built to house an extraordinary collection of oddities and rarities
Harold Moffat's collection started with a chance find in 1880. By 1912, however, his collection had grown to such a size that he commissioned Guy Dawber to build a new house to display it: Hamptworth Lodge, on the northern edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.
The photographs (and photographers) who shaped the English country house style from the 1900s up to today
To coincide with the publication of his new book illustrated from the archives of Country Life, 'English House Style', John
Ardgowan House: An 'almost miraculous' survival with a fascinating history
Ardgowan House in Renfrewshire, the seat of Sir Ludovic Shaw Stewart, is a remarkable building that's coming back to life,
New College, Oxford: The 650-year story of the college that dreamt it was a palace
John Goodall looks at New College, Oxford, the most widely copied university college in England, a building inspired by a
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by His Majesty The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
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What everyone is talking about this week: Where are the new Cotswolds?
The appearance of American Vice President J. D. Vance in the Cotswolds is a sure sign that they're saturated, but where else can you escape to that has the same charm?
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Audi RS3: The devil in a green dress
Audi's iconic hot hatch has had a 2025 facelift. It might be the best one they've ever made.
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Everingham Park: The revival of a lost vision of Georgian glory
Built between 1758 and 1764, Everingham Park, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was brilliantly reinvented in the 1960s. It also possesses an opulent chapel, a triumphalist product of Catholic Emancipation. John Goodall reports on this Georgian house, home of Philip and Helen Guest. Photography by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
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Sir Denys Lasdun: The brains behind the building branded 'a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London’ by The King
John Betjeman admired Sir Denys Lasdun’s work, but The King disliked it, and opinion remains divided to this day. Either way, the man who viewed ‘buildings as landscape’ has left an indelible mark on London.
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Thomas Cook: The travel agent who changed the world, and the house his descendants live in to this day
Sennowe Park in Norfolk is the home of Charles and Virginia Temple-Richards, the descendants of trailblazing travel agent Thomas Cook. Oliver Gerrish looks at the travel business that funded and informed the renovation of this extraordinary Edwardian country house.
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Eight of the UK's most impressive private libraries, as seen in the pages of Country Life
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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One of 'the most magnificent and perfectly preserved of Britain’s great Edwardian country houses', built for the heir to Thomas Cook's vast fortune
John Goodall looks at the creation of Sennowe Park in Norfolk — home of Charles and Virginia Temple-Richards — and charts its transformation at the hands of a local architect from a Georgian lodge to a luxurious Edwardian home.
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Opinion: If we want to keep our architectural heritage, why do we tax those who repair it?
It beggars belief that the state lists buildings in order to protect them — and then doesn’t contribute to their upkeep, says Country Life columnist Agromenes.
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The country home with an intriguing connection to the Titanic, doomed for demolition
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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'Step through the front door and your expectations evaporate in amazement and delight': The humble end-of-terrace house that's a wonder of neo-Classical grandeur
An unassuming house in Swansea reveals a marvellous and unexpected secret. John Goodall enjoys a rich collection of neo-Classical decorative plasterwork lovingly created by Royston Jones and Fiona Gray.