From The Crown to Downton Abbey, the country house speaks to our fantasies of rustic splendour, style, and escape. Featuring three hundred photos from the National Trust, this lavish book draws back the curtain on the finest and most important historic homes in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, revealing these great houses' intriguing pasts, grand interiors, and vi-brant reinventions for the enjoyment of modern-day visitors, residents, and armchair travellers. Locations include Knole, Cragside, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, Polesden Lacey, Petworth, Castle Bodiam, Blenheim, Longleat, and dozens more. Illuminating essays by country house expert Jeremy Musson, legendary British author and historian David Cannadine, and contributing writers and scholars provide unique insight into centuries of life in a historic home. This is a rich visual resource for lovers of sumptuous interiors on a human scale, as well as grand exterior architecture and gorgeous landscapes. For Anglophiles, royals watchers, and lovers of the country house lifestyle, architecture, and interior design, this is a magnificent new look at landmark British country houses, the treasures they contain, and how they speak to our fantasies of rustic splendour and escape today.

Chinese wallpaper has been an important element of western interior decoration for three hundred years. As trade between Europe and China flourished in the seventeenth century, Europeans developed a strong taste for Chinese art and design. The stunningly beautiful wall coverings now known as `Chinese wallpaper' were developed by Chinese painting workshops in response to western demand. In spite of their spectacular beauty, Chinese wallpapers have not been studied in any depth until relatively recently. This book provides an overview of some of the most significant Chinese wallpapers surviving in the British Isles. Sumptuously illustrated, it shows how these wallpapers became a staple ingredient of high-end interiors while always retaining a touch of the exotic.

The Late Assyrian Empire (c. 900 - 612 BCE) was the first state to rule over the major centres of the Middle East, and the Late Assyrian court inhabited some of the most monumental palaces of its time. The Architecture of Late Assyrian Royal Palaces is the first volume to provide an in-depth analysis of Late Assyrian palatial architecture, offering a general introduction to all key royal palaces in the major centres of the empire: Assur, Kalhu, Dur-Sharruken, and Nineveh. Where previous research has often focused on the duality between public and private realms, this volume redefines the cultural principles governing these palaces and proposes a new historical framework, analysing the spatial organization of the palace community which placed the king front and centre. It brings together the architecture of such palaces as currently understood within the broader framework of textual and art-historical sources, and argues that architectural changes were guided by a need to accommodate ever larger groups as the empire grew in size.

When she discovered that nearly half of France's 44,000 heritage sites were chateaux in various states of repair, Catherine Scotto embarked on a journey to find out who, exactly, lived in these medieval fortresses and, more importantly, what they were like on the inside. From Normandy to Provence and everywhere in between the owners of these chateaux-including decorators, antique dealers, artists, and collectors-represent the epitome of French culture and taste. Each chateau is presented in double-page full-color spreads that feature alluring interiors and information about the hosts and their design journeys. There's something for everyone here-whether it's homes where simplicity and minimalism reign, rooms as exuberantly busy as a 14th-century tapestry, or interiors transformed by surprising, era-bending feats. Morel's breathtaking, naturally lit photographs of generous kitchens, cozy drawing rooms, spacious bedrooms, ingeniously imagined bathrooms, and intriguing hallways and stairwells offer endless inspiration, while Scotto's engaging text gives readers a feel for the kinds of people who take on such a daunting yet satisfying challenge.

This beautiful publication narrates the romantic biography of an architecturally significant country residence and its rescue from decline. Dating from the mid-15th century, Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was home to a succession of leading courtiers and politicians. At the command of King James I, the house was refurbished with a richly decorated state apartment. The suite, with its series of rare plaster ceilings and carved chimneypieces, unquestionably ranks as one of the finest-and least known-in Britain. In 2004, English Heritage rescued the house from ruin and has since restored it to much of its glory. This book places Apethorpe in its wider historical and architectural context, comparing it with other Tudor and Jacobean houses. It sheds new light on the furnishing, decoration, and circulation patterns of state suites in country homes. Written by architectural and archeological experts from Historic England, this monograph, the first on Apethorpe, is illustrated with new and historical photographs, paintings, maps, engravings, and specially commissioned interpretive drawings that reveal how the house looked at key moments in its history. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

The start of a brand new series from bestselling author Fay Keenan.Life in London has lost its sparkle for Stella Simpson. So when she gets the opportunity to escape to the country for a year, it seems too good a chance to miss. In the beautiful Somerset countryside, the majestic Roseford Hall has been painstakingly restored and is now ready for its grand opening. And as the writer in residence, Stella gets to see it all - from the rowdy resident peacocks, the hidden secrets of the Hall, to befriending the Lord of the Manor himself. At the other end of Roseford, single father, Chris Charlton is facing his own refurbishment woes. Rocked by a tragedy two years previously, his plans for crumbling Victorian wreck Halstead House are as stuck as he is. As Roseford Hall prepares to welcome a new era, and Halstead House's future is under threat, Chris and Stella find themselves drawn to one another. Can they finally leave their pasts behind, and will Chris and Stella be able to embrace their new beginnings together - or apart... Escape to the beautiful, idyllic English countryside with Fay Keenan. Romantic, feel-good and utterly charming, this is perfect for all fans of Julie Houston, Cathy Bramley and Holly Martin. What authors and readers say about Fay Keenan's novels: 'This novel has such a gorgeous setting. A lovely light read and the perfect book to pack in your suitcase and take on holiday. Recommended.' Della Galton 'A gorgeous rural romance full of warmth and charm.' Victoria Connelly 'Guaranteed to put a spring in your step. Feel-good, frisky and great fun with a hearty dash of romance and intrigue.' Julie Houston 'Moving, funny, thoughtful and romantic. Bring on the next one!' Jenny Kane 'This is a lovely and heart-warming story, that has a serious side hidden within the romance.' Amazon reviewer 'It was a wonderful book, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.' Amazon reviewer 'I was so engrossed in the storyline, which is thoroughly heart-warming, that I read the entire book without stopping. I always enjoy Keenan's books and am looking forward to the next one!' Amazon reviewer

Britain has a wealth of royal palaces, some owned by the Crown as part of the country's assets, while others have been bought by members of the Royal Family themselves as personal residences. Each property has a fascinating story behind it, as well as its own unique place in history. This beautifully illustrated book looks at some of the UK's best-loved royal homes, current and former, their buildings, gardens, treasures and, of course, their inhabitants past and present. Discover how these homes have evolved over the centuries and how they are being adapted for the future and the demands of modern life. Written by seasoned Pitkin royal author Halima Sadat, this easily digestible volume makes a wonderful companion for anyone visiting these impressive buildings and their beautiful gardens. Entries include: Hampton Court, Osborne House, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, Highgrove, Sandringham and Balmoral.

Visits to country houses are an important leisure pursuit throughout the British Isles, not just to appreciate their superb architecture, great paintings and elaborate furniture but also to experience something of the past life of our great families and their households. Mark Girouard suggested in Life in the English Country House that 'even when the customs have gone, the houses remain, enriched by the accumulated alterations, and often accumulated contents of several centuries. Abandoned lifestyles can be disinterred from them in much the same way as from the layers of an archaeological dig'. By the 19th century, life in most country houses changed as a result of various technical inventions such as improved water supplies, flushing water closets, boilers and pipes to provide central heating, internal communications by bells and then telephones, and better lighting by means of gas and electricity. Country houses, however, were usually too far from urban centres to take advantage of centralised sources of supply and so were obliged to set up their own systems if they wanted any of these services to improve the comfort of daily living. Some landowners chose to do this; others did not, and this book examines the motivations for their decisions. It also sets out to discover what evidence has survived for the impact of technological innovation on the buildings, contents, parks and gardens of country houses and on the lives of the people within them. In the course of their research, the authors have visited nearly one hundred houses around the United Kingdom, mostly those open to the public and the majority in the hands of the National Trust. Many books have been devoted to the life of those in domestic service in such houses, but this book looks not so much at the social records of their lives as the actual physical evidence for the greater levels of comfort and convenience sought by landowners in country houses from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

The start of a brand new series from bestselling author Fay Keenan.Life in London has lost its sparkle for Stella Simpson. So when she gets the opportunity to escape to the country for a year, it seems too good a chance to miss. In the beautiful Somerset countryside, the majestic Roseford Hall has been painstakingly restored and is now ready for its grand opening. And as the writer in residence, Stella gets to see it all - from the rowdy resident peacocks, the hidden secrets of the Hall, to befriending the Lord of the Manor himself. At the other end of Roseford, single father, Chris Charlton is facing his own refurbishment woes. Rocked by a tragedy two years previously, his plans for crumbling Victorian wreck Halstead House are as stuck as he is. As Roseford Hall prepares to welcome a new era, and Halstead House's future is under threat, Chris and Stella find themselves drawn to one another. Can they finally leave their pasts behind, and will Chris and Stella be able to embrace their new beginnings together - or apart... Escape to the beautiful, idyllic English countryside with Fay Keenan. Romantic, feel-good and utterly charming, this is perfect for all fans of Julie Houston, Cathy Bramley and Holly Martin. What authors and readers say about Fay Keenan's novels: 'This novel has such a gorgeous setting. A lovely light read and the perfect book to pack in your suitcase and take on holiday. Recommended.' Della Galton 'A gorgeous rural romance full of warmth and charm.' Victoria Connelly 'Guaranteed to put a spring in your step. Feel-good, frisky and great fun with a hearty dash of romance and intrigue.' Julie Houston 'Moving, funny, thoughtful and romantic. Bring on the next one!' Jenny Kane 'This is a lovely and heart-warming story, that has a serious side hidden within the romance.' Amazon reviewer 'It was a wonderful book, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.' Amazon reviewer 'I was so engrossed in the storyline, which is thoroughly heart-warming, that I read the entire book without stopping. I always enjoy Keenan's books and am looking forward to the next one!' Amazon reviewer

Castletown House, Ireland's largest and earliest Palladian-style house, was built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the wealthiest commoner in Ireland. In 1967, the house was bought by the Hon. Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society and opened to the public. In 1994, ownership of the house was transferred to the State, and it is now managed by the Office of Public Works. Castletown House, a history, is the story of that house, written by the children who grew up there, Baroness Diana Wrangle Conolly Carew, the Hon. Sarah McPherson & their brother, the Hon. Gerald Edward Ian Maitland-Carew. In this fascinating history, the character of the house is brought to life through its former residents, together with stories of their Olympic medals, the chance survival of the house through the Civil War, and tales of visiting royalty to the greatest of Ireland's great houses.

This title contains 2 books in slipcase. It includes an history and description of The Palace of Christian VII at the royal castle, Amalienborg, in Copenhagen.

Escape to hills high above the French Riviera with international bestseller Jennifer Bohnet.After tragically losing her husband, Nicola Jacques and her teenage son Oliver relocate to his father's family's olive farm in the hills above the French Riviera. Due to a family feud, Oliver has never known his father's side of the family but Grandpapa Henri is intent that Oliver will take over the reins of the ancestral farm and his rightful inheritance. Determined to keep her independence from a rather controlling Grandpapa, Nicola buys a run-down cottage on the edge of the family's Olive Farm and sets to work renovating their new home and providing an income by cultivating the small holding that came with the Cottage. As the summer months roll by, Nicola and Oliver begin to settle happily into their new way of life with the help of Aunts Josephine and Odette, Henri's twin sisters and local property developer Gilles Bongars. But the arrival of some unexpected news and guests at the farm, force Nicole and Aunt Josephine to assess what and where their futures lie. This book was previously published as The French Legacy.

Country houses and the British empire, 1700-1930 assesses the economic and cultural links between country houses and the Empire between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Using sources from over fifty British and Irish archives, it enables readers to better understand the impact of the empire upon the British metropolis by showing both the geographical variations and its different cultural manifestations. Barczewski offers a rare scholarly analysis of the history of country houses that goes beyond an architectural or biographical study, and recognises their importance as the physical embodiments of imperial wealth and reflectors of imperial cultural influences. In so doing, she restores them to their true place of centrality in British culture over the last three centuries, and provides fresh insights into the role of the Empire in the British metropolis. -- .

"Hall's consummate history is not just the story of the evolution of one of the world's great collections... The book is also a through-the-keyhole insight into the shifting tastes, good or bad, of 1,000 years of monarchs." - The Times The Royal Collection is the last great collection formed by the European monarchies to have survived into the twenty-first century. Containing over a million artworks and objects, it covers all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, from paintings by Rembrandt and Michelangelo to grand sculpture, Faberge eggs and some of the most exquisite furniture ever made. The Royal Collection also offers a revealing insight into the history of the British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II, recording the tastes and obsessions of kings and queens over the past 500 years. With unprecedented access to the royal residences of St James' Palace, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, Art, Passion & Power traces the history of this national institution from the Middle Ages to the present day, exploring how royalty used the arts to strengthen their position as rulers by divine right and celebrating treasures from the Crown Jewels to the "Abraham" tapestries in Hampton Court Palace. Author Michael Hall examines the monarchy's response to changing attitudes to the arts and sciences during the Enlightenment and celebrates the British monarchy's role in the democratisation of art in the modern world. Packed with glimpses of rarely seen artworks, Art, Passion & Power is a visual treat for all art enthusiasts. Accompanying the BBC television series and a major exhibition at the Royal Academy, Art, Passion & Power is the definitive statement on the British monarchy's treasures of the art world.

Who was the most beautiful woman in England in the twentieth century - and why did she become the most hated woman? Who spent GBP500,000 to remodel her house for a king's weekend visit? What country house has a roof that is seven acres in size? What prime minister's mother had at least twenty lovers? How many million individuals were killed in World War 1? The answers to such startling questions show that history is an unnerving mixture of breathtaking moments and punishing reversals. Written as a rattling good read, The Downton Era takes the reader on a journey through twentieth century England by pointing out the personal landmarks that make up history. When we see elegant country houses, we discover that such great piles of rock record the aristocratic arc of the English upper class from its Victorian heyday onward into the twentieth century. Titles and dances and hunts were social events that linked families and forged governments. By exploring the interwoven family chronicles of the Churchills and their cousins, the Mitfords, we see history at a personalized level. In their lives are woven together stories of great houses, the lure and weight of title, the range and challenge of political influence, and the privileged entrapments that undermined their dazzling social world. As with tragedy, the scale of greatness and disintegration in these families and their class makes for riveting reading.

Winner of the International Society of Place, Landscape, and Culture Fred B. Kniffen Award A reexamination of working-class architecture in late nineteenth-century urban America As the multifamily building type that often symbolized urban squalor, tenements are familiar but poorly understood, frequently recognized only in terms of the housing reform movement embraced by the American-born elite in the late nineteenth century. This book reexamines urban America's tenement buildings of this period, centering on the immigrant neighborhoods of New York and Boston. Zachary J. Violette focuses on what he calls the "decorated tenement," a wave of new buildings constructed by immigrant builders and architects who remade the slum landscapes of the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the North and West Ends of Boston in the late nineteenth century. These buildings' highly ornamental facades became the target of predominantly upper-class and Anglo-Saxon housing reformers, who viewed the facades as garish wrappings that often hid what they assumed were exploitative and brutal living conditions. Drawing on research and fieldwork of more than three thousand extant tenement buildings, Violette uses ornament as an entry point to reconsider the role of tenement architects and builders (many of whom had deep roots in immigrant communities) in improving housing for the working poor. Utilizing specially commissioned contem-porary photography, and many never-before-published historical images, The Decorated Tenement complicates monolithic notions of architectural taste and housing standards while broadening our understanding of the diversity of cultural and economic positions of those responsible for shaping American architecture and urban landscapes. Winner of the International Society of Place, Landscape, and Culture Fred B. Kniffen Award

This book is all about Delhi and the Red Fort as the title suggests. Perhaps no other city in the world can boast its legacy as old as of Mahabharat times. From Rajputs, Delhi passed into the hands of rulers and invaders from Afghanistan and Trans-Oxania region. In Mughal Hindustan from the times of Shahjahan, Delhi became the power seat and his son Aurangzeb, the Alamgir, maintained Laskar-e-Azim, the largest army at that time in the world. The Mughal Emperors who came after Aurangzeb were weak, namby-pamby characters and given more to the life of pleasure. The formidable Mughal Empire started crumbling. The Nadir Shahs, Abdalis, Marathas, Jats and the Ruhelas expedited the ruin. The British East India Company not only completed the task but also became the new Rule, replacing the Great Mughals. The British could not ignore the mood of the people for long and had to leave the country. Finally, India became a free nation when the first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru unfurled the tri-color flag from the ramparts of Red Fort. The narration ends at this note. This book unfolds the tales of fourteen cities starting from Indraprastha to New Delhi of today. The buildings, gardens, bazaars, galis and kutches of old city of Delhi speak about the bygone days of Shahjahanabad. The grandeur of the Red Fort or Qila-e-Muella that included the Places of the Mughals and the Halls of Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas where Shahjahan used to hold his court surpassed those of the kingdoms of Balkh, Bukhara and Samarkand. The book carries 62 carefully chosen illustrations that add fragrance of the by-gone days.

During the first to the fifth centuries AD the Danube-Balkan region formed a buffer zone between the Latin speaking world of the west and the Greek speaking lands of the east. This book deals with the development and influence of the architectural plan of the late Roman villa in the Danube-Balkan region. It combines an archaeological and an architectural historical approach to the examination of the plans which form the primary focus of the research. At the same time, the functional and decorative elements of the buildings are considered in detail where appropriate. The research is based on extensive fieldwork and draws together the existing literature to elucidate the architecture of the late Roman villa in the Danube-Balkan region and to establish its broader significance. A systematic study of this nature has not previously been carried out.

Noted for its magnificent architecture and extraordinary history, the Yuanming Yuan is China's most famous imperial garden. The complex was begun in the early 18th century, and construction continued over the next 150 years. Chinese historians, and many Chinese in general, view the garden as the paramount achievement of Chinese architecture and landscape design. This text provides a comprehensive study of the palatial garden complex and a tour of its architecture and history. Wong begins by inspecting the garden's physical appearance and its architectural elements. He discusses the origin and evolution of these structures and the aesthetics of their design and arrangement. He refers throughout to maps and original models of individual buildings and other existing gardens of the Ming-Qing period, including the well-preserved Yihe Yuan and the Chengde Summer Mountain Retreat in Rehe. The book also explores the activities and daily life of the royal household.

A magnificent treasure house for a study in decoration, no other extant Roman monument has such rich examples of ornament from a single building campaign. McNally grabs the opportunity to consider the functions of rare fragments in situ to find a grand decorative scheme and a relationship with structure. This should also provide fixed points of comparison for other buildings at a defined period (early fourth century). Appendix dealing with the frieze inside the mausoleum, and the coffers of the Temple of jupiter.