Apethorpe Palace, ‘the stuff of dreams’
Jeremy Musson took a look at the spectacular renewal of one of England’s great Jacobean houses — there was also an accompanying piece in which John Goodall looked more closely at the links between the house and James I of England. https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/james-is-love-affair-with-apethorpe-the-great-country-house-that-surpasses-all-belief-276453
Knowsley Hall: How Liverpool’s grandest country house — and one of the largest homes in England — was brought back to life
'One of the most ambitious restorations of an English country house' began a quarter of a century ago, and we took a look back at how it's been going.
Curious Questions: Why was the original Euston Station destroyed in one of the greatest acts of cultural vandalism Britain has ever seen?
One of the great masterpieces of 19th century, the original Euston Station, was built in the years after Queen Victoria came to the throne. Less than 125 years later it was razed to the ground; Martin Fone took a look at the reasons why.
Inside Windsor Castle
Our piece on perhaps the greatest castle of them all, printed by kind permission of the Sovereign, was actually published in 2023, but has remained enormously popular.
‘Wrecking balls swung from the ceiling, pillars were shown toppling, cornices crumbled… it was sensational’
Simon Jenkins reminisced about the 1974 exhibition at the V&A which helped save the country house.
The best country house architects in Britain
Our definitive list of the best in the business, updated and expanded for 2024.
St James’s Palace: An exclusive look inside
Published originally right at the end of 2023, this was a fascinating look at the British monarchy’s oldest, quirkiest and most mysterious palace.
‘One of the great landmarks of the Sussex coast’, finally finished some 156 years after work was started
John Goodall looeds at the recent completion of the chapel of Lancing College.
900 years old, one careful owner
How Madresfield Court has come down the centuries in the hands of one family.
The Palladian masterpiece you can rent by the weekend
Wolterton Hall's unmatched Georgian splendour.
Photography: Getty / Alamy / Paul Highnam / Will Pryce / Country Life
Wembley isn't just a stadium — it was a vision abd a pioneering adventure in the history of architecture
The 1924 Wembley Empire Exhibition was conceived on a vast scale, with a bewildering variety of displays that united such
The architecture of Henry James: How real-life country houses found their way into the work of one of our greatest writers
The stories of Henry James are full of descriptions of country houses. Jeremy Musson explores the messages these houses convey,
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Sold, singed and sunk: The sorry tale of Normanton HallFew English country houses suffered more than Normanton Hall.
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Fit for a queen: The story of Queen Victoria's state bed at Arundel CastleA state bed commissioned to receive Queen Victoria at Arundel Castle has just undergone a transformative restoration, as Annabel Westman explains. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The six best new buildings in the UK right now, in the words of the architects who helped build themThe shortlist for this year's Royal Institute of British Architects’s Stirling Prize has been revealed. Lotte Brundle takes a closer look at the projects vying for the nation's top architecture award, and the people behind them.
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'It is so full of turrets and lofty buildings, spires and towers, it looks not like a town but a city': The glamour of Glamis Castle, from Macbeth to the Queen MotherJohn Goodall looks at the eventful later history of Glamis Castle, one of the most celebrated of Scottish castles, and its association with Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother.
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Country-house treasures: Echoes of a childhood, scratched in glass at Stedcombe HouseGraffiti scrawled by a 12-year-old boy in 1788 starts a new series on the lesser-known treasures of our great country homes.
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Affordable, sustainable, rural: How a group of volunteers embarrassed the government and built some of the best new homes in the countryHazelmead has won almost every RIBA award going. The development on the outskirts of Bridport might be a springboard for a rural housing revolution, much like the Arts-and-Crafts movement more than a century ago.
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Inside the remarkable restoration of King George III's observatoryCommissioned by George III, the observatory has a long and fascinating history as a seat of scientific endeavour. It has now been restored as a home, as William Aslet reports.
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‘Its loss became a cautionary tale, and a rallying cry for architectural conservation’: The rise and fall and renewed interest in Ireland’s remarkable country housesLesley Bond traces a brief history of Ireland’s country houses and questions whether you can ever separate the house from the history it represents.
