The Victorian Country House

by Mark Girouard

A study of Britain's great nineteenth-century houses examines their architects, and the social, technological, and economic conditions that made the massive structures possible.

"In-depth look at thirty individual houses...built as the centres of sizeable country estates"--Preface

Genres: History, Architecture, Nonfiction

467 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1971

About the author

Mark Girouard FSA was a British architectural historian who was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mildly interesting

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The country houses built in Britain during the mid- and late-19th centuries, as Mark Girouard, notes in this book, are monuments to their age. Built for the Victorian country gentleman, they reflected the values and priorities of his class, while their development speaks to the changing tastes and technologies of the period. In taking these houses as his subject, the author seeks to offer insight not just into the buildings but into a social class that dominated the age and whose influence can still be felt in many ways today.

Girouard divides the book into three parts. The first offers a general overview of Victorian country houses, including their design, construction, and layout. This allows him to provide some generalities about Victorian country homes, as well as charting their evolution throughout the period. He follows this in the second part by detailing 23 houses built during the era. Scattered throughout Great Britain and Ireland, they serve as case studies, with their individualized descriptions illustrating the assertions made earlier in the book. The remaining homes built during the era are listed in a catalog that comprises the final third of the work, giving readers a complete list of every one of the homes and their subsequent fate.

Generously illustrated with photographs of the houses and supplemented with floor plans, maps, and biographical details of the architects, Girouard's book is a lavish study of its subject. Written in a clear style, its pages offer a comprehensive synopsis of the evolution of Victorian country abodes, one that provides many interesting details about their development. Though written over thirty years ago, it remains a useful starting point for anyone interested in the country houses and in what they reveal about the Victorian elite.

[Olivia Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book. I am very interested in books about houses and people during this time period. This book is well written and covers everything I want to know. There lots of pictures and drawings too. We just don't build homes like these any more. We need to preserve these grand old homes. I really enjoyed the catalogue in the back of the book listing many old homes and where they are located.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for being all inclusive. This book is a vast collection of Victorian mansions. Pictures are accompanied with a brief description of the architecture and the Builders that made it happen. It's a good go-to when you need information on a certain Victorian home, but I found it sort of redundant to read straight through.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d recommend anyone that is interested in architecture read Girouard’s books.

This is a 1979 edition of a book on Victorian country houses mainly illustrated with black and white photographs with a few colour plates.

I particularly enjoyed the floor plans and would have enjoyed seeing further floors for each of the selected houses.