The English House: The Story of a Nation at Home

by Clive Aslet

In this groundbreaking work, Clive Aslet brings us face to face with the personalities, technologies, industries, and histories that have shaped the English domestic house. The journey begins at Clive’s family home in 19th-century London, from where we peer out at the back-breaking business of brick-making and the gory executions at Tyburn. He then takes us to 20 houses around England, each throwing open a window onto a different period of history. From the imaginative wooden house a Marlborough silk merchant built for himself after 1653’s Great Fire, to a populist row of flat-roofed prefabs on the outskirts of Amersham in 1947, Clive explores how the basic concept of "home" has evolved through the years. On the grander end of the spectrum we meet "house as metaphor, house as art" at colossal Elveden Hall in Suffolk, a glittering tribute to the Taj Mahal that nearly bankrupted the original India owner, and the Butterfly House in Surrey, a 21st century glass-and-fibers homage to nature and a glimpse at the future of housing.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, British Literature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a decade ago that Neil MacGregor’s A History of the World in 100 Objects launched a publishing trend of books that sought to recount the past through a selection of material objects. In many ways Clive Aslet’s delightful study is a precursor to these works. Though a selection of twenty-one domestic structures that still stand today – from the Norman-era Boothby Pagnell Manor House to a postwar kit house reconstructed to fit 21st century needs – Aslet recounts the evolution of housing in the country and what it reveals about the changes it experienced.

While Aslet’s focus is primarily architectural, he expands his coverage beyond the structures themselves to consider what the form reveals about function. This allows him to present the buildings not just as a reflection of changing needs and tastes, but of what those changes reveal about larger developments taking place in the English society and culture of their times. It’s material and architectural history in its most valuable form, showing how these structures can tell us about the lives people lived and, though them, the broader history of England. As a longtime writer of architectural history Aslet is well-suited to write such a book, yet he wears his knowledge lightly in a work that is never less than enjoyable. While the absence of photographs and floor plans of the houses he profiles is regrettable, supplementing his book with internet searches addresses their absence nicely. Anyone seeking an entertaining overview of English history or to understand how they lived will find Aslet’s book a highly satisfying read, one that demonstrates the value of using English homes as a prism into their past.

[Alex Sarll]

"The Story Of A Nation At Home" – isn't that just the perfect subtitle for something to read now an Englishman's home is his oubliette? Though part of me regrets not reading this back when I picked it up from the free box at my old work, back before the last financial crisis; the introduction covers the house in which the author himself grew up, and that was right nearby on my frequent lunchtime route of Tachbrook Street. Ah well. It's been sitting quietly among my books ever since, until a month or two back, when I undertook my last pre-Event reorganisation, having recently acquired a fair few new ones – the ones which I'm occasionally convinced tipped the number of unread pages in the house over some critical threshold, one where the flow of new reading matter and other entertainments is throttled until I've actually read enough of what I've already got. Either way, that left The English House at top left of one shelf, right in the eyeline of where I didn't yet know my home office was soon to be. After a week or two of which I took the further hint and finally got around to it.

And very welcome it turned out to be. The vignettes of past construction and habitation, the clear explanations of how things were once made, remind me of a certain strain of children's non-fiction, which is absolutely not a criticism. Plenty of other reviews have lamented the paucity of illustrations – there's only one pencil drawing of each era's emblematic house at the start of its chapter. I suspect many of them would have liked a lavish coffee-table book, lots of photos, whereas what I have in mind is more one of those...what were they called? A4, quite flat, series of books for kids, eighties at the absolute latest but I think earlier? Lots of lovely painted illustrations, Ladybird-style, but a step up from them for factual density. Lots of cutaways. Format this like those and it would be a thing of wonder. As is, it's still very soothing. A lot of it was whatever the reading equivalent is of in one ear and out the other ('in one eye and out the other' sounds far more horrid, doesn't it, even though the two experiences would likely be equally fatal if literal), though there are definitely bits and bobs that will stay with me, like the distinction between a housemaid and a parlourmaid. As that example might suggest, the examples here do tend towards the upper end of the social scale, or at least the upper middle. To some extent this is as you'd expect from the editor at large of Country Life, but as he says, particularly once you're back to Norman times, the materials the poor used simply didn't survive in the same way – and as we near the present, there are a decent sprinkling of Arkwright-era workers' dwellings, farmhouses and suburban semis. It's very much the gentle version of English history – pendulums may swing when it comes to taste, Palladian or Gothic come into and out of fashion, but little is ever truly lost and much – not least the Picturesque – is incorporated permanently into what we now think of as English taste. Yes, there's the odd raffish architect, or suggestively named building material ('clunch', indeed), but then Englishness has always been prepared to make space for a modicum of eccentricity and smut. Only very occasionally do all the wars, plagues and collapses which took place during these centuries make much of an appearance, and even then mostly as an opportunity for reform. A very partial history, in other words, one very obviously written before the 2008 crash and its endless terrible sequels, in a time when one could still complacently believe in progress. But that's what makes it such a welcome escape right now, into a better world only a tiny twist away from ours.

[Michael Pryor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a delightful survey of English homes over the centuries with some elegant writing and lovely insights into domestic living. It's an odd book, in some ways, because despite being a quality production (hardback, sewn in bookmark)it has very few illustrations. A fine line drawing heads each chapter, but after that - nothing. A book that discusses architectural features would have benefited from diagrams, illustrations and, if possible, photographs. Even a layout plan of the dwellings would have been useful.

[Willow Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah - I wanted to love this book, but it left me wanting so much more.
This book covers some of the most unique and interesting examples of housing stock within England; however, it really only covers 20 houses of which most are now owned by National Trust and the like as examples of how past English Brits lived.
I wouldn't really describe this book by the Tagline: The Story of A Nation At Home; instead it covers what the author deems as culturally relevant homes. As such - it lacks the homes for the poor and everyday English. Further, whilst the book is called The English Home it does use a few examples from Scotland - specifically in looking at historical houses. I think the author missed a trick in not looking at houses outside of England and also including houses across the UK due to the various similarities found within the housing stock.
Further, some of the architectural details are confusing to read and really could of had architectural drawings, photography and imagery to support the very detailed descriptions. In some cases even layouts would of greatly benefited the quality of text.
Overall, a very well put together book reviewing different properties, but I did find each chapter followed a very similar theme, discussions on the house, what its made of, and the changes over the century with a fairly in-depth of the architect/first time owner of each property.
A great book - but I wanted more.

[Kimilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author clearly has visited a lot of houses and places and was eager to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for it. The structure of the book was well thought through, but I still sometimes got lost in all the details. There was a lot of context given to each house, sometimes even to much, but yet I really really would've liked to see this with some pictures to really understand the architectural descriptions.

[Kymberly B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clive Aslet’s The English House: The Story of a Nation at Home is a very interesting compilation of the history of the homes the author has known through his work in writing articles for Country Life magazine since 1977 including his own London terraced home. He shares that a house does not look the same as time moves on, but that the building is the same building. The study of English homes involves looking at them during different time periods as the houses exist at each time period and bring life to its different occupants over the time it stands in use by those that choose to dwell there. I truly enjoyed this unique take on the history of these homes over time and the history of the broader times and areas in which they were built and still exist.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit random. There was no linking theme. Just random facts about random places. Could also have done with pictures.

[julianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and informative, this was an absolute pleasure to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

[JFN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, informative, transportive read. Clive Aslet is a beautiful writer. I do wish there were some more images included in the book though, other than the drawings that introduce each chapter.

This is an example of where Goodreads needs to let us do half stars. This is a solid 3.5-er, which is pretty high praise from me.

[Mike Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and well put together book on the history of the English house told through specific houses - full review here

http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u...

[Ting · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's about English houses by an editor of Country Life magazine. It was a fantastic and interesting read. Enough said.