Secret Houses of the Cotswolds

Description

Secret Houses of the Cotswolds is a personal tour of twenty of the UK's most beguiling houses in this much loved area of western England, defined by its distinctive honey-coloured stone, rolling hills, picturesque villages and the most traditional English landscape. Author and architectural historian, Jeremy Musson, and Cotswolds-based photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas, offer privileged access to twenty houses, from castles and manor houses, by way of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mansions, revealing their history, architecture and interiors, in the company of their devoted owners. In the footsteps of artists and designers from Georgian designers such as William Kent to Victorian visionary, William Morris, founder of the arts and crafts movement, we find a series of fascinating country houses of different sizes and atmospheres, which have shaped the English identity, and in different ways express the ideals of English life. Most of the houses included here are privately owned and not usually open to the public, and all of these houses featured in this book can be enjoyed through the eyes of owners, as well as an experienced architectural historian, and an award-winning photographer.

Jeremy Musson is an architectural historian, writer and broadcaster who worked for Country Life for twelve years, first as Architectural Writer and then as Architectural Editor. He has a particular enthusiasm for the late-seventeenth-century and early-eighteenth-century English county houses and has visited all the surviving works of Vanbrugh. He is the author of The Country Houses of Sir John Vanbrugh, The English Manor House: from the Archives of Country Life and How to Read a House. Born in London in 1965, he now lives with his family in Cambridge.

'Some real gems, including a seventeenth-century manor house and a remodelled medieval moated house. The owners of each take their role as guardians seriously.' * House & Garden * 'Unless you're lucky enough to be on dinner party terms with the owners, there are many historic treasures you're unlikely to ever peer behind the doors of, but thanks to this beautiful book all that has changed. Sumptuous full-colour images lovingly laid out across spreads to great effect, showing everything from seeping lawns to personal, quirky details. Just gorgeous.' * Cotswold Life * 'Fascinating (mostly privately owned) castles, estates, palaces and manor houses in this much-loved area that have shaped the English identity.' * Country Life * 'Any lover of the Costwolds would find this book a very attractive and informative addition to their library.' * Historic House * 'A fabulous choice for lovers of traditional architecture, grand house interiors and all-round nosey parkers.' * Reclaim Magazine *