Utterly English and with features including ‘seven golden rules for selling a country house’, Country Life has been described as ‘read by people who live the real country house style’.
When the weekly magazine was launched in 1897 it incorporated Racing Illustrated and, as well as the golf and racing content, there was a detailed and illustrated feature on a country house, castle or historical building – its architecture, history and descriptions of the property’s interiors and gardens.
In short, this is a dream for today’s specialist archivists and researchers, and in particular bodies like the National Trust and English Heritage. And, of course owners of country houses.