Country House
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Visiting the Breakers
Welcome to the Breakers, Newport, RI! This is the first post in a series of three I’ll be doing on the Newport mansions, and I thought I’d begin with the most famous one. Sit back, relax, museum from home and take a little walk with me through this huge palace of a “summer cottage” right read more
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Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Derbyshire
Happy Friday everybody! I’m back with a little post that combines a slightly forgotten ruin of a country house in the beautiful English countryside of Derbyshire with a museum in the US famous for Rocky Balboa running up the steps… an intriguing if slightly crazy combination? Read on to see what links Sutton Scarsdale Hall read more
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4 Country Houses that took on new roles in World War Two
To mark VE Day 75, here are four country houses with fascinating stories about how they contributed to the war effort on the World War Two home front. read more
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Visiting Biltmore, the North Carolina home of the Vanderbilts
Welcome to Biltmore, the spectacular home of the Vanderbilts in Asheville, North Carolina – although it may seem hard to imagine this fairy-tale mansion as a family home, when it has a total of 250 rooms! Ready to see inside? It’s even more impressive than the French chateau-inspired exterior suggests… Here is one of my read more
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Favourite Historical Visits of 2019
Happy New Year! And as well, happy new decade! I’m excited to get researching and blogging for the year and have lots of ideas – but I wanted to start off the year by looking back at some of my favourite historical sites I’ve visited in 2019… Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton I’ve loved Jane read more
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Pre-Raphaelites, Dragons and a Cabinet of Curiosity: A Visit to Wallington
Wallington is a beautiful William and Mary period country house in the Northumberland countryside – the house as seen today, including the beautiful big clock tower you walk underneath as you enter the grounds, was largely remodelled by Sir Walter Calverley Blackett, who had inherited the house from his party-loving and debt-ridden uncle, Sir William read more
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Once upon a Christmas at Chatsworth
Every year, Chatsworth House – somewhere you probably recognise from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, 2008’s The Duchess (the tale of the real ancestor of the current owners, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, wife of the fifth Duke) and 2013’s Death Comes to Pemberley – puts on the most beautiful Christmas displays around the house. read more
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Belton House: A Celebration of Creative Women
2018 is a special year in British Women’s History: it marks the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, when, for the first time, some women were eligible to vote. This moment in history has provided the opportunity for many heritage sites and organisations to reflect on the stories of women and their achievements: read more
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Dynastic Strategist, Architectural Patroness and Businesswoman: Bess of Hardwick
Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury by Unknown Artist, probably 17th century based on a work c.1590, oil on canvas (on display Montacute House, NPG 203) Elizabeth Talbot, or, as she is more commonly known, Bess of Hardwick, was born into a Derbyshire gentry family that became increasingly impoverished and subjected her childhood to hardships, but read more
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Portraits, carvings and Pemberley: Sudbury Hall
Sudbury Hall will always be one of my favourite country houses to visit as it is so close to home (it is another lovely Derbyshire country house), so I have very vivid memories of visiting (including a school trip when I was five in which I fell in love with this 1920 portrait of Violet, read more
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Dr. Lizzie Rogers 