A wealth of fine books have been published on our wonderful country houses and I rely heavily on the many erudite and knowledgeable authors who produce them. As I often receive emails asking for general recommendations, below are a selection of some of the best books currently available on country houses (a perfect destination for gift ideas for anyone who loves country houses!) – and I’ll add more as I go. The criteria are that I have read and found them interesting, that they are in print and widely available.
Large books
Adam Houses: From the Archives of “Country Life” – Eileen Harris
Edwin Lutyens: Country Houses – From the Archives of “Country Life” (Country Life) – Gavin Stamp (cheaper paperback also available)
Elizabethan Architecture: Its Rise and Fall, 1540-1640 – Mark Girouard
English Country House Interiors – Jeremy Musson
England’s Lost Houses: From the Archives of “Country Life” – Giles Worsley
Felling the Ancient Oaks: How England Lost its Great Country Estates – John Martin Robinson
Houses of the Lake District – Christopher Holliday
Irish Houses & Gardens: From the Archives of “Country Life” – Sean O’Reilly
Lost Country Houses of Suffolk – W.M. Roberts
Moving Rooms: The Trade in Architectural Salvages (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art) – John Harris
Scotland’s Lost Houses – Ian Gow
Scottish Houses and Gardens: From the Archives of “Country Life” (Country Life) – Ian Gow
The Country Houses of John Vanbrugh: From the Archives of “Country Life” (Country Life) – Jeremy Musson
The Classical Country House: From the Archives of “Country Life” – David Watkin
The Jacobean Country House: From the Archives of “Country Life” – Nicholas Cooper
The Lost Houses Of Ireland: A Chronicle of the Great Houses and the Families Who Lived There – Randal MacDonnell
The Regency Country House: From the Archives of “Country Life” (Country Life) – John Martin Robinson
Twentieth Century Castles in Britain – Amicia de Moubray
Small books
Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of a Great English Dynasty – Catherine Bailey
Castles In The Air: The Restoration Adventures of Two Young Optimists and a Crumbling Old Mansion – Judy Corbett
Champagne and Shambles – Crisis at the Country House: The Tale of the Arkwrights – Catherine Beale
Madresfield: One house, one family, one thousand years – Jane Mulvagh
No Voice from the Hall: Early Memories of a Country House Snooper – John Harris
The Big House: The Story of a Country House and its Family – Christopher Simon Sykes
The Exiled Collector: William Bankes and the Making of an English Country House – Anne Sebba
Up and Down Stairs: The History of the Country House Servant – Jeremy Musson
Guides to houses and gardens open to the public
Hudson’s Historic Houses & Gardens
National Gardens Scheme’s Yellow Book
In the interests of transparency; these links are Amazon Affiliate links on which I would earn a small commission if someone is kind enough to purchase one, even though the price you pay is exactly the same. Any funds raised will almost certainly be ploughed back into buying more books – can’t help myself really, it’s almost an addiction.
Thanks
Matthew
For a complete list of books published annually on country houses, see 2011 and 2012.
May I make a suggestion? ‘Life in the English Country House’ by Mark Girouard
This is the one essential book on Country Houses, revolutionising our understanding of them when it came out. I would also suggest Creating Paradise.