CATEGORIES

Phoenix from the flames

Two glorious houses that burnt to the ground– one in Herefordshire in 1999 and another in Wiltshire in 1882–have been rebuilt, as another, in Devon, has been beautifully updated

Upstairs, downstairs

The Victorian terrace is one of the unsung heroes of 19th-century architecture, not only elegant and space efficient, but also highly adaptable to the changing demands of modern life, believes Clive Aslet

Under the Guernsey stars

From dark skies to wild coastlines and magnificent gardens, Antonia Windsor revels in the Bailiwick’s spectacular natural world

Why fuchsia snobs should think again

Banished for being blowsy and vulgar, the much-maligned fuchsia is at last being welcomed back into society

In A World Of Pure Imagination

More than a century after they were last exhibited, Gustave Moreau’s The Fables remain timeless and glittering visions of a jewelled neverland, finds Matthew Dennison

In the frame

Everything you need for beautiful windows, selected by Amelia Thorpe

Never say never

What resources are needed to save a country house on the brink? Lucy Denton investigates

The Athenian revolution

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of St Pancras Church, Harry Mount considers the early-19th-century enthusiasm for Greek architecture and its impact on buildings across the British Isles.

An open-and-shut case

When it comes to sash windows, are you a purist or a pragmatist? Eleanor Doughty examines the argument for both options

Come to the point

For lovers of traditional sport and skilled dog-work, the spectacle of pursuing grouse over pointers and setters is hypnotic and exhilarating, says Jonathan Young

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Drawn into the chilli’s fiery embrace at a young age–when sneaking a sip of his father’s Tabasco-laden Bloody Mary–Tom Parker Bowles is addicted to the fruit with a sting in its tail

Grace and space

Three Kent properties show off the best that the Garden of England has to offer

Taking the waters

For Georgian landowners, a mineral-laced spring could mean a profitable resort, even if the water was rusty orange–and our spa towns remain a tonic today, says Clive Aslet

Time to try defying gravity

Thomas the Tank Engine, van Gogh’s head, a pair of Levi’s and a Tyrannosaurus Rex: Cameron Balloons has made them all fly in the form of hot-air balloons, finds Julie Harding

A room for all seasons

Interior designer Sarah Vanrenen has created an outdoor room that’s perfect for summer (and winter) entertaining, finds Amelia Thorpe

Get ready for their grand entrance

As useful, tough and easy to grow as they are dramatic, colchicums offer spring-like freshness, but in autumn, reveals Charles Quest-Ritson

Come hell or high water

Often hidden beneath slippery fronds of seaweed, rock pools offer a glimmering window into the cut-throat existence of the creatures that live in these havens on our shores, says Adam Nicolson

The mouse that roared

She kept an eclectic menagerie of pets and wild animals and signed everything, from paintings to cheques, with a tiny mouse. Claire Jackson revisits the all-too-short life of wildlife artist Mouse Macpherson

Picturing paradise

Balletic grace, disciplined spirituality, eloquent economy, unrestrained fantasy and pictorial intensity: five artists took very different approaches to illustrating Dante’s vision of Heaven, says Martin Kemp

Magical landscapes

There’s shooting, stalking, fishing, farming and houses aplenty within the golden acres of two of this country’s finest agricultural estates

WALKING WITH MASTERPIECES

Art is breaking free from the traditional gallery and its emergence on our streets and in our parks is changing the way we live, says Clive Aslet

This green and pleasant village

This slice of south London is an underrated arcadia, but for how long, asks Carla Passino?

Updating a legacy

Turvey House, Bedfordshire The home of Charlie and Grace Hanbury Never previously described in COUNTRY LIFE, this fine neo-Classical house has recently been adapted and refurbished by the seventh generation of the family that built it. Jeremy Musson reports

‘Mother Dear... remember me in your prayer'

A mammoth new work recounting the First World War, week by week, isn’t merely a chronicle of pain and suffering, says co-author Margaret-Louise O’Keeffe–it is a rich tapestry of courage, camaraderie and love

The problem with house building...

Housing development is conditioned by concerns that have nothing to do with creating attractive or sustainable places to live. Clive Aslet explains this scandalous situation and suggests what we might be able to do about it

‘It's very close to the human voice'

The four great cello concertos will feature in the same Proms season for the first time in history. Pippa Cuckson discovers why this mellow instrument evokes such emotion

What a relief

Generations have sworn by dock leaves to take the sting out of a brush with nettles, even if modern medicine disagrees

It's all going south

Our fishing correspondent ventures to England for a series of forays on venerable chalkstreams, where he bags a few brown trout and a lot of nostalgia

On the wings of love

Once oblivious to butterflies, Robin Page became so entranced by their delicate beauty that he embarked on a year-long safari to tick every British species–as well as some foreign visitors–off his list

Picture perfect

The market’s blooming in the South of England with three historic manor houses