This survey will adopt a chronological approach as we study the changing architectural design and role that the country house played in English culture.

Our first session will feature Jacobean properties such as Chastleton House; our second session will examine the changes that came into play in the later 17th century. The Palladian country house is the topic of the third session and this will be followed by Neo-Classical houses such as Kedleston Hall. The architectural eclecticism of the early 19th century will be discussed in our penultimate session. We will conclude the course with consideration of later 19th century properties, including Tyntesfield, with an explanation by way of a postscript, of the fate of country houses in the 20th century.