Stowe, Buckinghamshire

THE spectacular Marble Saloon, designed for Earl Temple in the 1770s and completed for his nephew, the 1st Marquess of Buckingham, is the centrepiece of Stowe, one of the largest Classical country houses ever created.

The schoolmaster by René Magritte

Charlotte Mullins comments on The schoolmaster

A question of technique

Craft-makers stand equal with architects and patrons in the trinity of the country-house creator. Mary Miers meets five experts keeping our historic houses and their collections alive, repairing, conserving, reinstating and adding new layers of creativity

Knowsley Hall, Lancashire

IN 1997, after it had spent 35 years in institutional use, the Earl and Countess of Derby began to restore Knowsley Hall, which stands only 11 miles from the centre of Liverpool.

Bringing 'beauty' back

Lord Deben explains the thinking behind his 'Gummer's Law', which provided for the creation of new country houses within planning law

A vibrant era for our country houses

Rather than perceiving the mid 20th century as a troubled period in the history of the country house, John Martin Robinson argues that it was perhaps one of the most interesting, unexpected and enterprising

And now for something different

The days of pulling up the drawbridge are long gone. Over the past 50 years, many owners have turned around the fortunes of their country houses with imaginative diversification, becoming major rural employers in the process, as they tell Kate Green

In with the old

The younger generations' appetite for everything vintage bodes well for the future, at a time when an extraordinary Old Masters collection is about to go under the hammer

Back to birdwatching school

‘Two willow warblers are described as ‘elegists for a previous world, singing their anthems for the lost’.

With a heavy art

A ruthless, intransigent man, who fought against the unions and never took responsibility for a tragedy that killed more than 2,000 people, Henry Clay Frick nonetheless had a redeeming quality: he bequeathed the world an exceptional art collection, finds Michael Prodger

California here we come

Welsh gold prospecting was the Victorian equivalent of the National Lottery. Now, precious metal is glinting in those hills once more, says Harry Pearson

A hero of haute Bohème

Some of the world’s most beautiful furniture and works of art passed through the hands of Christopher Gibbs. Yet a new book reveals his rare gift for finding beauty in the ordinary and the obscure that had a lasting impact on classic English interiors, finds Giles Kime

Making mulch of it

Give your plants a natural homemade mulch that feeds the soil, holds in moisture and keeps down weeds says Charles Quest-Ritson

The morel of the story

More likely to be found hiding in plain sight than in the wild, the elusive morel gives a punch of pure mushroom that's perfect with pasta, says John Wright

The agony and the ecstasy

GREAT is the agony of start-ing to work in the garden again when winter is at last behind us!

Shaping the future

How is a new generation of interior designers responding to changing lifestyles, proliferating choice, the challenges of sustainability and the tireless demands of social media? Arabella Youens asked some of the profession's brightest lights

My favourite painting Mary Miers

Rowadill in Harris

Material world

Copper, brass, wood veneers and reeded wood surfaces are bringing richness to contemporary kitchens, finds Arabella Youens

The art of the home

Janine Stone & Co began with a passion for fine furnishings and exceptional design, deeply rooted in its founder's artistic upbringing.

What's not to like?

Choose the right spot and cultivar of Clematis montana and you will be rewarded with long stems of pink or white clusters of flowers, often scented with vanilla or chocolate. Charles Quest-Ritson visits the National Collection

Room service

Why British designers dream up the most desirable hotels

Let's get this party started

The party barn is taking off like never before, finds Madeleine Silver

The return of the drawing room

Lockdown revealed the deficiencies in open-plan living, as well as the benefits of areas dedicated to entertaining. Three designers tell Amelia Thorpe how drawing rooms are evolving into spaces used for both formal entertaining and quiet contemplation

Play like a pro

WE’RE less than two months away from Britain's famed grass tennis season, beginning, this year, with the Lexus Birmingham Open (May 31-June 8).

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM!

A tinned treat courtesy of our ‘special relationship’ with the US, Spam offered Britons a taste of the ‘hot-dog life of Hollywood’ and was once served in Simpson's, discovers Mary Greene

'Of the islands'

An improving landlord in the Outer Hebrides created a remote Georgian house that has just undergone a stylish, but unpretentious remodelling, as Mary Miers reports

Across Russia with love

When addressing the Japanese Cherry Society in 1926, Ingram was shown a painting of a white-flowered blossom (Akatsuki, meaning 'daybreak' or 'dawn') that had become extinct there.

The very best of luck

Whether repetitive, colourful or potentially whiffy, a sportstar’s rituals, charms and peculiar idiosyncrasies are all part of ‘getting in the zone’, observes Harry Pearson

Blooming marvellous

EIGHT glorious gardens have been short-listed for the Historic Houses (HH) Garden of the Year Award 2025 and the public is now invited to vote for the winner.

For the love of Cecil

IT'S been 45 years since Sir Cecil Beaton died, yet the Vogue favourite retains a certain cool factor that has inspired three new exhibitions this year.