The English Country House: From the Archives of Country Life

The English Country House takes a look at the architecture and interiors of sixty-two stunning houses in a range of architectural styles spanning seven centuries--from the medieval Stokesay Castle to the newly built, Lutyens-inspired Corfe Farm--brought to life through the world-renowned photography library of Country Life. More than four hundred color and black and white illustrations provide an insight into the architecture, decoration, gardens, and landscape settings of these houses, which are set into their architectural and historical context by the accompanying text and extended captions.

The book provides an entr e into the houses to which Country Life has had privileged access over the years, many of which are still private homes, often occupied by descendants of the families that built them. Punctuating the book at intervals in the form of booklets on rich, uncoated paper are six essays by leading British architectural historians that set the English country house into its social context and chart the changing tastes in decorating and collecting, the development of ancillary buildings, gardens and landscapes, and finally, its influence in the United States.

Mary Miers is architectural writer, arts and books editor for Country Life. Her previous career was in architectural conservation, and she established and ran Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register in the 1990s. Her books include The Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide and American Houses: The Architecture of Fairfax & Sammons. Her home is in the Highlands of Scotland. Marcus Binney is an architectural journalist well-known for his work in the British conservation movement. Tim Knox is director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. Jeremy Musson is a former architectural editor of Country Life. Tim Richardson is a former gardens editor of Country Life. John Martin Robinson is the author of several books on British architecture. Geoffrey Tyack is the director of the Stanford University Centre in Oxford.