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'Halfway between a restoration and an environmental research project' — A transformed Georgian country house
The ingenious integration of the polite and service rooms of handsome Marlwood Grange in Gloucestershire has created a modern family home.
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The exotic and irresistible beauty of Leighton House
An ambitious redevelopment project at Leighton House in West London, former home of the artist Frederic, Lord Leighton, has augmented the celebrated interiors of this magnificent studio house. John Goodall reveals how it came into being; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Chillingham Castle: 'Curiosity and beauty' at a spectacular castle that survived ruin by the skin of its teeth
Chillingham Castle, Northumberland — the home of Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt and the Hon Lady Wakefield — is a castle saved from the brink of ruin that is now a memorable home. John Goodall reports; photographs by Paul Highnam.
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Gilmerton House: The great Scottish country house whose history is intertwined with a pitiful murder
Gilmerton House, Lothian — the seat of Sir David Kinloch Bt — is a handsome 18th-century house that's been developed by the same family for the past four centuries. And it has an unexpectedly dramatic story to tell, as John Goodall explains; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Australia House: The story of Australia's unforgettable outpost in the heart of London
An imposing home for the newly federated Commonwealth of Australia sought through its design and materials to celebrate themes of union with Britain and national self worth, as Prof G. A. Bremner explains.
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Inside Madresfield Court, the house that inspired Evelyn Waugh’s 'Brideshead Revisited'
John Goodall looks inside Madresfield Court in Worcestershire — home of Lucy and Jonathan Chenevix-Trench — and the family story that inspired Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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900 years old, one careful owner: How Madresfield Court has come down the centuries in the hands of one family
John Goodall looks at the early evolution of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire — the home of Lucy and Jonathan Chenevix-Trench — to tell the tale of a place that has descended in the hands of one family for more than 900 years.
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Plan to save historic church buildings is 'urgently needed', warns National Churches Trust
In the past 10 years, some 3,500 churches have closed their doors, prompting a call to action to rescue those under threat.
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Hollywood comes to the Home counties in a Surrey home inspired by Spanish villas and Irish castles
A stylish 1920s home brought the glamour of the theatre and Hollywood, as well as the most recent fashions of healthy living, to an incomparable Surrey setting, as Clive Aslet explains. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Seeing the light: The lasting legacy of Sir John Soane
For Sir John Soane, the tools of the trade included skylights, tinted glasses and mirrors, as much as classical motifs, bricks and mortar. Carla Passino retraces the life of the man who chased the poetry of architecture and left an extraordinary gift to the nation
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From Windsor Castle and the Reform Club to the house where Ghosts is filmed: Country Life's best architecture stories of 2023
We take a look back at a wonderful year of architecture articles in Country Life, including an astonishing look inside Windsor Castle with pictures taken just days before the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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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, with the help of specially commissioned drawings by Matthew Rice.
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Britain's most eccentric crooked buildings, from the pub that looks tipsy to the church that leans more than the Tower of Pisa
Warped, twisted and wonderfully wonky, who can fail to be intrigued by the quirky glory of Britain’s medieval buildings? Rob Crossan explores the asymmetrical charm of the crooked house.
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Somerton: The ruined medieval castle transformed into a magical family home
The sensitive restoration of a neglected medieval castle has created a delightful family home, as Nicholas Cooper discovers. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
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Seven things you need to know about restoring a glasshouse
Lucy Denton shares expert insight into bringing a glasshouse back to its former glory with care and consideration, plus the experts to consult when you need assistance
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The engineering genius of Britain's great Victorian glasshouses — and how many are in a battle to avoid 'The Spiral of Doom'
Whimsical and ethereal, as well as feats of engineering, Victorian glasshouses are a reminder of pioneering progress and deserve sensitive restoration, says Lucy Denton.
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St James's Palace: An exclusive look inside the British monarchy's oldest, quirkiest and most mysterious palace
Created as a secure residence for Henry VIII’s heir, St James’s Palace has become the modern home of the Court. Simon Thurley, editor of a new history of the palace, explains the remarkable history of this little-known building. Photographs by Will Pryce.
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Ballone Castle: How a roof-less shell inhabited by cows became medieval modernism at its finest
The restoration of the ruined tower house that is Ballone Castle in Easter Ross — the home of Lachie and Annie Stewart — has created the opportunity for a remarkable contemporary essay in the spirit of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement, as Mary Miers discovers. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The Englishness of English architecture
A major new survey of architecture in Britain and Ireland from 1530 to 1830 will be published this autumn. Its author, Steven Brindle, teases out the qualities of one of its most elusive central themes.
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St Bartholomew’s Hospital: 900 years of service
This year, two connected institutions in the heart of London — St Bartholomew’s Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Church — celebrate their 900th anniversary. In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at their foundation story. Photographs by Will Pryce For Country Life.
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St Bartholomew-the-Great: A living fossil in the City of London
In 2023, two connected institutions in the heart of London — the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great and St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield, London — celebrate their 900th anniversary. In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at their foundation story. Photographs by Will Pryce for the Country Life Picture Library.
