Lasting Elegance: English Country Houses 1830-1900

by Michael Hall

The great English country house tradition reached its apotheosis in the nineteenth century. Designed by all the most eminent architects of the age, houses constructed during this period were larger, more elaborate, and more lavishly furnished than ever before, and they became famous throughout Europe and America for their luxury, technological innovation, and convenience of plan.

 

Michael Hall's survey draws on the vast archive of the great British magazine Country Life to present the fullest visual record yet published of the Victorian-era country house in England and Wales. It ranges from the High Gothic of Tyntesfield to Ferdinand Rothschild's flamboyantly French Waddesdon Manor and Philip Webb's Arts and Crafts interiors at Standen. These remarkable photographs are in many cases the only record of the great houses in their heyday; those such as Wrest Park, Thoresby Hall, and Hewell Grange were all sold in the twentieth century and their magnificent furniture and priceless artwork and collections dispersed. Houses that have survived with their interiors intact but are little known or rarely accessible to the public also feature prominently, such as Flintham Hall and the Earl of Harrowby's Sandon Hall. Highclere Castle, now famous as TV's Downton Abbey, features prominently.

 

Spectacular color photographs provide a fascinating look at some of the most celebrated houses of the period, from A. W. N. Pugin's Scarisbrick Hall and William Burges's Cardiff Castle to J. F. Bentley's Carlton Towers and J. D. Crace's astonishing interiors at Longleat. This chronologically arranged survey of Victorian houses spans the decades from the 1830s to the 1890s and includes not only new houses, but also historic county seats that have been in families for generations and were given major renovations or additions in this era. With over 150 superb color and black-and-white photographs specially selected to highlight the century's most significant houses and their architects and an authoritative commentary by Michael Hall, this book provides a thorough overview of a major period in British architectural history.

Genres: Architecture

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
For the children's author, see Michael Hall. For the author of the Island Pamphlets (Northern Ireland), see Michael Hall.

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve developed, over the past couple of decades, a deep interest in the social phenomenon of the English country house -- sparked, probably, by Mark Girouard’s marvelous Life in the English Country House. Much of this interest is rooted in my background in social history, but part, I confess, is a fascination with the pretty pictures in volumes like this. Country Life magazine was founded in 1897 and almost immediately began publishing articles on aristocratic country residences and architecture. (Girouard’s own work began to appear here in the late 1950s.) Over time, its earlier concern with golf and auto racing faded and country houses took over almost completely, assisted by a very high standard of photography of both exteriors and interiors. Hall’s book digs deeply into the magazine’s archives to present a graphic history of new country house development (as opposed to the renovation of ancient buildings) during the reign of Victoria. He begins with Harlaxton Manor in Shropshire, which was built in the 1830s, and finishes with Wood House, in Essex, a Tudor-style house that was designed in 1897. The only exception to this rule is the expansion and extensive redesign of Arundel Castle, the 12th-century home of the dukes of Norfolk, at the turn of the 20th century, turning its interior into “the biggest Gothic Revival house in England; it is Gothic to its last keyhole.” The large color plates and detailed black-and-white photos -- more than 150 of them -- are absorbing, and the accompanying text summarizes both family history and architectural concepts. If you have any interest in the history of architecture or Victorian England, you’ll find this the best kind of coffee table book.