Stephen Bayley

The country house is dead: that’s why we love it so

Our nostalgia for grand living seems limitless, and Clive Aslet is an entertaining guide to some of Britain’s greatest, once privately-owned houses

A game of croquet at Knole during a visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales (The Illustrated London News, July 1866). [Getty Images]
  • Comments

  • The Story of the Country House: A History of Places and People

    Clive Aslet

    Yale University Press, pp. 256, £18

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe and get your first month of access for free. After that it’s just £10.99 a month.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Lloyd Evans

My (surprisingly) decent proposal

Lloyd Evans
From the magazine
‘Like being chained to a lunatic.’ That’s how a man feels in relation to his libido. And the lunatic latches on to anything, irrationally, and without warning. In Cambridge recently I dropped into a lecture given by a beautiful historian, Lea Ypi, from Albania, whose discourse included this observation about revolutionaries: ‘Once they attain power

Because you read about architectural history

Also by Stephen Bayley

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in