The magnificent country houses built in Britain between 1890 and 1939 were the last monuments to a vanishing age. Many of these great mammoths of domestic architecture were unsuited to the changes in economic and social priorities that followed the two world wars, and rapidly became extinct. Those that survive, however, provide tangible evidence of the life and death of an extraordinarily prosperous age.The fascinating world, so vividly depicted in Evelyn Waughs Brideshead Revisited, can now be viewed from a new perspective. The Last Country Houses will enlighten all those interested in glimpsing the lost life style of another age.

Of all the photographs in Country Life's archives, none are more poignant or intriguing than the images of houses that have been lost. This text puts the lost country houses of England in historical context and explains why so many were destroyed.

Reproduces all of Sheldon's fascinating and historically important photographs and plans for a total of 97 buildings (93 houses, 4 casinos) built during the 1880s. Approximately 200 illustrations.

Blueprints, sketches, and exterior and interior photographs showcase the finest examples of 1930s country homes from 70 different architectural firms. A variety of styles are featured, from simple cottages to large estates.

A rollicking tour of the English country home after World War II, when swinging London collided with aristocratic values As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, its mansions fell and rose. Ancient families were reduced to demolishing the parts of their stately homes they could no longer afford, dukes and duchesses desperately clung to their ancestral seats, and a new class of homeowners bought their way into country life. A delicious romp, Noble Ambitions pulls us into these crumbling halls of power, leading us through the juiciest bits of postwar aristocratic history—from Mick Jagger dancing at deb balls to the scandals of Princess Margaret. Capturing the spirit of the age, historian Adrian Tinniswood proves that the country house is not only an iconic symbol, but a lens through which to understand the shifting fortunes of the British elite in an era of monumental social change.

- Each of the 12 houses will be featured in national and international press to announce the book- In the UK, the media includes Tatler, House & Garden, Country Life, The English Home, and Telegraph Luxury Online- In the US, the media includes Town & Country, Architectural Digest Online, The AD Aesthete Podcast, Air Mail, and DeparturesThis book is a sumptuously produced journey around 12 privately-owned country houses, asking what it is like to live in such places today. What role do they play in the 21st century? For many years after the Second World War, the country house was struggling. Now a new generation of young owners, often with children, has taken over. They're finding innovative ways to live in these ancient, fragile and poetic places. While they treasure the history and beauty of the houses, they're also adapting and enhancing them for a modern era. Old Homes, New Life is a behind-the-scenes account of today's aristocracy, as they reinvent the country house way of life. Each family does this in its own way, maintaining the tradition of individualism, even eccentricity, which is so much associated with country houses. Dylan Thomas's superb yet intimate photographs capture both the inhabitants of these houses and the spaces they occupy - from State dining to family kitchen, walled garden to attic. This feast for the eyes is accompanied by an equally mouth-watering text by Clive Aslet, based on interviews with family members and his long experience of the subject through his years as editor of Country Life. The result is an exclusive tour of a dozen spectacular homes.

In the heart of Central Europe stand some of the most elegant and grandly conceived country houses ever constructed, from medieval fortresses and Renaissance-era estates to baroque villas and neoclassical palaces. Until the last decade these illustrious residences were inaccessible to the West. This landmark volume presents these rarely seen treasures of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, nations that shelter a superb selection of EuropeGÇÖs finest country houses, built over the centuries by some of the continentGÇÖs most distinguished families. Richly illustrated with specially commissioned photography, The Great Country Houses of Central Europe tells the stories of these magnificent buildings and the families that constructed them, immersing us in the vanished world of the regionGÇÖs aristocracy. Lord Michael Pratt sets his discussion of the houses and their patrons against the backdrop of Central European history. Beginning in the Middle Ages and continuing to the present day, this monumental study analyzes thirty of the regionGÇÖs most important estates and introduces dozens of others. Although the primary focus is on the houses and the families that built them, gardens, grounds, and interiors are also illustrated in detail, including examples of furniture, decorative arts, and paintings. Splendid and surprising, these remarkable structures and the magisterial book that celebrates them display Central Europe in its full glory.

Combining poetic language and the traditions of magic realism to paint a vivid portrait of her family, Pat Mora’s House of Houses is an unconventional memoir that reads as if every member, death notwithstanding, is in one room talking, laughing, and crying. In a salute to the Day of the Dead, the story begins with a visit to the cemetery in which all of her deceased relatives come alive to share stories of the family, literally bringing the food to their own funerals. From there the book covers a year in the life of her clan, revealing the personalities and events that Mora herself so desperately yearns to know and understand.

Written by preservation consultant Pamela W. Fox 'North Shore'

This title assesses the economic and cultural links between country houses and the empire between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.