Dream cottages come in many forms, from the half-timbered to the stone-built. Mary Miers casts her eye across the country and looks at the full panoply of rustic beauty they have to offer.
As the new Downton Abbey film hits cinemas, John Goodall takes a look at the real history of what has become one of the world’s most famous stately homes, the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon. Photography by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
Ardgowan House in Renfrewshire, the seat of Sir Ludovic Shaw Stewart, is a remarkable building that's coming back to life, as John Goodall reports.
Ewenny Priory is wonderfully atmospheric medieval building in South Wales, encircled by fortifications, which raises a series of puzzling questions and conundrums. David Robinson unpicks a story spanning 900 years. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
‘I am always pleased when somebody stands in front of one of my buildings and asks what I’ve done.’ Hugh Petter tells Clive Aslet how he altered his own home.
Once a poor man’s shelter, now a chocolate-box status symbol, thatched cottages are topped with straw and sedge, reed and heather: local materials laid by local men. Nick Hammond goes up in the world to find out more; photographs by Joe Bailey.
The subtle remodelling and extension of an older cottage in the Cotswolds style by architect Robert Franklin is an exemplary essay in the Arts-and-Crafts spirit. Jeremy Musson reports, with photographs by Paul Highnam.
‘Every element serves a purpose,’ says Sandra Coppin of the Modern property she updated for her own home, repurposing material along the way so that nothing went to waste.
‘I learnt that the best you can do is not too much,' Tom Croft tells Clive Aslet as he discusses how he adapted his own home for his family's use.
The work of updating Nikolas Pevsner and Ian Nairn's magnum opus on the buildings of England continues with a volume focusing on West Sussex. John Goodall takes a look.
The waterside retreat of the Earl of Rosebery & Midlothian — a celebrated Victorian politician, sportsman, antiquarian and bibliophile — has been restored and brought back to life. John Martin Robinson reports on this remarkable survival; photographs by Paul Highnam.
The combined demand for a concert hall and a set of law courts in the burgeoning Atlantic port of Liverpool during the 1840s brought into being one of the greatest public buildings of the Victorian age.
Tower Bridge celebrates its 125th birthday on June 30. But how does it work? And why was it built that way in the first place?
New discoveries in the archives at Belvoir are fleshing out the history of this outstanding castle. John Goodall delves into the fresh evidence for the development of Belvoir from the Norman Conquest to the eve of its wholesale reconstruction from 1800.
Higham Hall in Suffolk is the home of Quinlan Terry, the favourite architect of HRH The Prince of Wales and a leading contemporary exponent of Classicism. Clive Aslet reports; photographs by Paul Highnam.
An outstanding, but little-known treasure faces an uncertain future. Marcus Binney looks at the notable history of this house and issues a call for help.
The search for privacy and peace encouraged Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to create an Italianate seaside villa. It offers an unparalleled insight into their domestic life and private interests, as John Goodall explains.
William Morris's London home was just as remarkable as his country houses, as Clive Aslet discovered during a visit to the new exhibition at Kelmscott House.
Avington Park, Hampshire — the home of Sarah and Charlie Bullen — is a home with rather astonishing history that’s superbly set in the valley of the River Itchen. John Goodall finds out more; photographs by Will Pryce.
