Stately
home
A
stately home is, strictly speaking, one of about
500 large properties built in England between the
mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th
century, as well as converted abbeys and other church
property (after the Dissolution of the Monasteries).
They are usually distinguished from true "castles",
being of a later date and built purely as residences.
These houses became a status symbol for the great
families of England
who competed with each other to provide hospitality
for members of the Royal Household. Famous architects
and landscape architects such as Robert Adam, Sir
Charles Barry, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir John Vanbrugh,
Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton were employed
to incorporate new styles into the buildings. Great
art and furniture collections
were built up and displayed in the houses. World
War II changed the fortunes of many houses and their
owners, and now there remains a curious mix of living
museums, part-ruined houses and castles, and grand
family estates.
The following organisations are responsible for the
upkeep of numerous stately homes.
- English
Heritage
- National
Trust
- Treasure
Houses of England
- The Landmark
Trust
However,
many stately homes are owned/managed by private
individuals or by trusts. The costs of running a
stately home are legendary. Many owners rent out
their homes for use as film and television sets
as a means of extra income, thus many of them are
familiar sights to people who have never visited
them in person. The grounds often contain other
tourist attractions, such as safari parks, funfairs
or museums.
The term stately
home is a quotation from the poem The Homes of England
originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827
by
Felicia Hemans,
which begins as follows.
The stately
Homes of England,
How beautiful they stand,
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
O’er all the pleasant land!
Noel Coward wrote and performed a parody of the above:
The stately homes of England,
How beautiful they stand,
To prove the upper classes
Have still the upper hand.
In the later,
Las Vegas phase of his career Coward revised his lyrics:
The stately homes of England we proudly represent,
We only keep them up for Americans to rent....
Quentin Crisp
referred to himself as "one of the stately homos
(homosexuals) of England".
The plain-spoken
expression their owners use for these houses is simply
"country houses." "Stately homes"
is a real estate dealers' phrase, more suited to Robin
Leach's enthusiastic gush on Lifestyles of the Rich
and Famous and to the poised vocabulary of Dame Edna
Everage.
