Architecture

The demolition of Halnaby Hall is a warning from history, but destruction needn't always be a disaster

Stockton House, Wiltshire: An Elizabethan house packed with 21st century surprises

This fine house of about 1600 has been carefully renovated to provide modern services in a historic context. Clive Aslet reports on the challenges of this undertaking.

Longthorpe Tower's 700-year-old insight into the medieval mind

This surviving cycle of 14th-century paintings still has the power to intrigue, amuse and inform. It also offers a remarkable insight into the medieval world view, as Edward Impey expains.

Ince Castle, Cornwall: A country house risen from the flames

A serious fire can be the end of a country house, but, on occasion, it can also offer the opportunity for a sensitive and thoughtful reworking of a building, as Roger White discovers.

Marston House, Somerset: A magnificent example of Victorian enrichment of a great Georgian country house

One of the most important Georgian houses of south-western England has been rescued from the brink of demolition. John Robinson reports on the remarkable history of this building and its return to private occupation.

Haunted houses, a Gunpowder Plot and the castle of Bluebeard’s widow: Country Life’s top architecture stories of 2017

Between Christmas and New Year, we're taking a look back at some of our most popular stories of the year – today, we look at the country houses that have really blown our minds.

In the cathedral’s shadow: The Cathedral Close, Wells

The splendours of Wells Cathedral can easily distract from the astonishing architecture that surrounds it. In the second of two articles, John Goodall describes the remarkable history of the precinct.

Wells Cathedral, Somerset: A symphony of architecture

In the first of two articles, John Goodall describes the architectural development of Wells and the struggle of its late-medieval clergy to win the church its now-familiar status as a cathedral.

Christmas at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, France

A forest of star-spangled Christmas trees lines the carriageway to the swagged and beribboned entrance of 17th-century Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte which hosts an annual festive extravaganza, finds Jacky Hobbs.

‘It’s all about wonder and to look, to be able to ponder’ – the story behind spectacular nativity scenes

Each December, a newborn baby takes centre stage in Nativity scenes throughout the land. Julie Harding meets those responsible for bringing the Christmas story to life.

Cesky Krumlov Castle's exquisite theatre: The scene of princely diversion

The object of a heroic recent restoration, the 1760s theatre at Cesky Krumlov carries the modern visitor back into the Baroque world. In the second of two articles on the castle, John Goodall examines its astonishing survival.

Cesky Krumlov: Inside one of Europe’s greatest castles

Cesky Krumlov Castle was extravagantly remodelled in the 18th-century. In the first of two articles, John Goodall considers its development and spectacular interiors.

Children’s visions of the perfect future house, as rendered by a professional architect

Ten brilliantly imaginative children's ideas for houses of the future have been turned into modern 3D models to get a sense of what they'd really be like – and the results are fascinating.

Shanks House: A model restoration of a magnificent Georgian home

The exemplary restoration of this magnificent house has reintegrated a complex building into a single and coherent modern home, as John Martin Robinson explains. Photographs by Paul Highnam.

Listed buildings: Saving the history on your doorstep

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which laid the foundation for the modern system of listing buildings. Roger Bowdler of Historic England charts its history.

Upmeads: A Modernist castle as odd and beguiling today as ever

Boldly conceived by a leading shoe manufacturer and his wife in 1908, this house, recently restored, elicited much comment, as Oliver Gerrish explains.

Remembering the fallen: The world’s war memorials

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission celebrates its centenary this year. Gavin Stamp contextualises its work by looking at the way in which other nations commemorated their dead.

Thrumpton Hall, Nottinghamshire: A treasure on the Trent

A surviving collection of personal letters sheds a fascinating light on 18th-century life in this fine Jacobean house. John Goodall examines the development of the building.

Britain’s great railway stations: Victorian eclecticism, modern genius and one that is a true work of art

Simon Jenkins lauds our most romantic and architecturally significant railway stations, some of the unsung triumphs of British conservation.

Ashby St Legers: A spectacular house where the Gunpowder Plot was hatched