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] 
issue 09 October 2021

The true English disease is Downton Syndrome. Symptoms include a yearning for a past of chivalry, grandeur and unambiguously stratified social order, where Johnny Foreigner had no place unless perhaps as butler in the pantry or mistress in the bedroom. And the focus of the disease is the country house, Britain’s best contribution to the world history of architecture.

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