CATEGORIES
Hotel Casa Lucía, Buenos Aires, Argentina
I’M sitting on the elegant sweep of Calle Arroyo in Buenos Aires.
A tale of two artists
A Christie's sale shows that, but for a disinclination to travel, we might talk of Callot with the same reverence as Claude
Going Dutch
The visual riches of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have enthralled visitors since the 15th century. Michael Hall traces the reasons this small slice of Europe has nurtured some of the world's greatest masters
Whimsy in Wales
THE time of year has come for us to pack up the rusty Land Rover Defender and head to north Wales.
The new Olympian standard
Island-hopping in Greece has never been easier, or more desirable, owing to a boom in new hotel and villa openings in the Cyclades and beyond. Rosie Paterson rounds up the best
Presiding spirits
Catherine FitzGerald is the fourth generation of women in her family to put her mark on the gardens of Glin. Caroline Donald admires her subtle tweaks and new additions
A life less ordinary
Unusual properties from North to South, some with inhabitants of note
A family affair
A remarkable Edwardian country house is on the market for the first time and wine, cider and hops spice things up at a manoir estate, both in Herefordshire
Bottoms up
Why do so many animals have such obviously flashy appendages, asks Laura Parker, as she examines scuts, rumps and rears
Up where the air is clear
A shed is merely somewhere to keep tools. A hut, on the other hand, is a doorway to sporting adventure
The secret history of flowers
With no written records, the earliest inhabitants of these isles left a living dossier of cultural history in the folklore attached to our wildflowers
The legacy Sir Henry Tate and Tate Gallery
WHEN Henry Tate, the 11th child of a Lancashire Unitarian minister, had success as a grocer, he branched out into the sugar business (by then less tainted by slavery, which had been abolished in 1833–34).
A consolation and pleasure
Prince Albert took a close interest in architecture and oversaw a series of major building projects. Michael Hall considers his claims to be thought of as an architect
Full steam ahead
The railway may have started its artistic life as a fire-breathing monster that devoured the countryside, but it soon became an emblem of advancing modernity, a cherished memento of the past and even, in the case of one station, the centre of the universe
Stars in the East
Continuing from last week, further East Anglian properties include a moat beloved by wildlife, a Georgian hunting lodge on the site of a Civil War battlefield and a well-restored manor with a Tudor-hall wedding venue
'The oldest Old Thing in England'
Shakespeare was by no means the first to portray the mischievous Puck, a sprite of ancient lineage, with his ass's head, discovers Ian Morton
Coward on a mission
A revival of Noël Coward's final work reminds one of the emotional depth behind the laughs
Having the last laugh
Rotting teeth, modelling woes and an appreciation for solemnity have historically conspired to make painted grins a rarity, but beaming faces never fail to beguile, finds Claudia Pritchard
Mother of herbs
Enjoying a strange association with childbirth, mugwort is of more use in the kitchen and may even induce 'lucid dreams', finds John Wright
Bourne to run
The garden at Emmetts Mill, Chobham, Surrey A flat waterside site has been transformed into a garden full of drama with plenty of delightful places to stop and enjoy the view, writes Kathryn Bradley-Hole
Design brought to life
The 2024 WOW!house is a delightful parallel universe of creativity, finds Giles Kime
Bend it like Beckham
Chippendale, Scotland's only independent furniture school, bears a huge name to live up to, but with courses in wood-bending, marquetry, upholstery, restoration and more, it is flourishing under a new generation, finds Mary Miers
'Makes Buckingham Palace seem rather dull'
The London homes of the British aristocracy were often grander than their country counterparts, palatial without ever being called palaces, says Lucien de Guise
Tripping the light fantastic
A lustrous play of colour alchemy, iridescence can intrigue, camouflage and incite desire. Laura Parker immerses herself in one of Nature's greatest special effects
Venus was her name
The goddess of love and beauty's naked form caused a stir in the 4th century BC, incensed Suffragettes in the 20th and ruled art history in between and beyond, as Michael Hall reveals
The legacy Douglas Bunn and the Hickstead Derby
IT is the stuff of sporting legend. Douglas Bunn flew to Germany on New Year's Eve of 1960, armed with a tape measure.
Opening the shutters
In the second of two articles, John Goodall looks at the way in which this major Georgian house was awakened from sleep as a modern home and place of entertainment
Don't rain on Venus's parade
TENNIS has never been sexier—at least, that is what multiple critics of the new film Challengers are saying.
A rural reason to cheer
THERE was something particularly special for country people when one of the prestigious King’s Awards for Voluntary Service was presented last week.
My heart is in the Highlands
A LISTAIR MOFFAT’S many books on Scottish history are distinctive for the way he weaves poetry and literature, language and personal experience into broad-sweeping studies of particular regions or themes. In his latest— and among his most ambitious in scope—he juxtaposes a passage from MacMhaighstir Alasdair’s great sea poem Birlinn Chlann Raghnaill with his own account of filming a replica birlinn (Hebridean galley) as it glides into the Sound of Mull, ‘larch strakes swept up to a high prow’, saffron sail billowing, water sparkling as its oars dip and splash. Familiar from medieval tomb carvings, the birlinn is a potent symbol of the power of the Lords of the Isles.