Houghton Hall: Portrait of An English Country House

by David Cholmondeley, Andrew Moore, Derry Moore (Photographer)

The definitive survey of one of the great treasures of the English country landscape and British architectural heritage.

Genres: Architecture, History

296 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2014

Reviews

[Walter Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book written by Andrew Moore is more about the paintings in the house and its early inhabitants, the Walpoles. The book does not really become interesting until the second half when the present owner, the seventh Marquess of Cholmondeley narrates the history of the house from the latter half of the 19th Century to the present date which includes its renovation, modernization and opening to the public. The book is well bound, and well printed for the most part and lavishly illustrated.

As a photographer specializing in interiors I have a problem with the composition of several of the interior images. I also feel the rooms on the main floor should have been printed in a specific order and identified on a floor plan which this book lacks. So when we see interior images in this book we have no frame of reference of the original purpose of the room, its present purpose and its location in the house. Also few images of the non-tour rooms of the house are shown and this is often where the real charm of country houses lies, the attics, back stairs, service corridors, servants rooms, etc. Several of the photographs are not printed properly and this causes them to look as if the images are out of focus. Finally, there are quite a few images in the book that are superfluous, an example being repeated images of the main facade of the house. These are the reasons the book does not get five stars as it should have. Quite frankly I am a bit disappointed.