Great Houses: Modern Aristocrats

New York: Rizzoli, 2016. Hardcover. VG/VG(boards and DJ show extremely minor shelfwear; pages are clean and bright; binding is tight). Glossy pictorial dj; pictorial board covers. 255 pages : chiefly color illustrations. This stunning book presents the intriguing stories and celebrated histories of some of the leading families of Great Britain and Ireland and the opulent residences that have defined their heritages. The history of England is inextricably linked with the stories of its leading aristocratic dynasties and the great seats they have occupied for centuries. As the current owners speak of the critical roles their ancestors have played in the nation, they bring history alive. All of these houses have survived great wars, economic upheavals, and, at times, scandal. Filled with stunning photography, this book is a remarkably intimate and lively look inside some of Britains stateliest houses, with the modern-day aristocrats who live in them and keep them going in high style.This book presents a tour of some of Englands finest residences, with many of the interiors shown here for the first time. It includes Blenheim Palaceseven acres under one roof, eclipsing the splendor of any of the British royal familys residencesproperty of the Dukes of Marlborough; the exquisite Old Vicarage in Derbyshire, last residence of the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire (née Deborah Mitford); Haddon Hall, a vast crenellated 900-year-old manor house belonging to the Dukes of Rutland that has been called the most romantic house in England; and the island paradises on Mustique and St. Lucia of the 3rd Baron Glenconner. This book is perfect for history buffs and lovers of traditional interior design and English country life.
Contents: St. Giles House, Dorset, England : The 12th Earl of Shaftesbury -- Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England : The 11th Duke of Marlborough -- Luggala, County Wicklow, Ireland : The Honourable Garech Browne -- Villa Cetinale, Tuscany, Italy : The 7th Earl of Durham -- Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England : The 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley -- Dudley House, London, England : His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani -- The Grove, Oxfordshire, England : Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Pamela Hicks -- Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, England : The 21st Baron Saye and Sele and The Honourable Martin Guy Fiennes -- Goodwood House, West Sussex, England : The Earl of March and Kinrara -- The Old Vicarage (Chatsworth), Derbyshire, England : The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire -- Lismore Castle, County Waterford, Ireland : The Earl of Burlington -- Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, England : Lord Manners -- Mustique and St. Lucia : The 3rd Baron Glenconner -- Clandeboye, County Down, Northern Ireland : The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava -- Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England : The 4th Baron Rothschild -- Dunfries House, Ayrshire, Scotland : His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.