Here’s a list of some useful resources on houses and gardens plus people, places & sites I’ve bumped into.
MAP showing all HHA, NT, EH houses (produced by a walking club)
Professional websites
- Architectural Heritage Fund
- Art Fund (National Art Pass)
- English Heritage
- FAI (Italy’s version of the National Trust)
- Furniture History Society
- Flickr group for gardens/houses
- Georgian Group
- Gresham College architecture lectures
- Historic Houses Association
- HMRC’s list of properties with exempt heritage assets
- Irish Georgian Society
- Institute of Classical Architecture (a US-based society)
- www.invitationtoview.co.uk (South West & East Anglia)
- Landmark Trust
- Landscape Institute
- London Gardens Online (directory of London green spaces)
- National Garden Scheme (yellow book)
- National Trust
- National Trust for Scotland
- National Trust online bibliography (of articles relating to properties)
- National Trust online picture library
- Parks & Gardens UK
- The Royal Horticultural Society (the RHS)
- Royal Institute of British Architects’ summary of British architecture
- SAVE Britain’s Heritage
- V&A Articles
- Victorian Society
- Visit Britain
Books on my shelf
- The Classical Country House by David Watkin
- The Destruction of the Country House, ed. Roy Strong
- English Country House Interiors by Jeremy Musson
- No Voice from the Hall: Early Memories of a Country House Snooper by John Harris
- Some Country Houses and their Owners by James Lees-Milne (short diaries of his visits trying to procure houses for the National Trust)
Blogs & personal websites
HOUSES (interiors & style)
- The Devoted Classicist (blog)
- Chinoiserie Chic (blog)
- Dan DiCamillo’s Companion to British & Irish Country House
- Pegs & ‘Tails (blog showing the making historically faithful furniture)
- Ben Penreath’s Inspiration (blog)
- The Dandy Portraits (blog)
- The Country Seat (blog focusing in topical news re. country houses plus some architectural history)
- Lavenders Blue (blog showing historic properties and related design)
- Tweedland (blog focusing on fashion, interior design, historic interest)
- Lucy Worsley’s personal blog (she’s Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and a some time television presenter)
- Cote de Texas (interior design)
- SHAFE (an undergraduate’s notes on art & architecture)
- British & Irish Stately Homes (blog – lists properties for sale & topical television programmes)
GARDENS
- Been There Done That (ideas for exploring England)
- Federal Twist (prairie-inspired planting by James Golden)
- Garden Visitor UK (more of what I do – a kindred soul – just gardens)
- The Frustrated Gardener
- The Galloping Gardener (pictures of English gardens plus itineraries)
- Garden Visit (garden finder, blog, holidays)
- Garden History Matters (blog about the history of gardening)
- Garden History Girl
- Noel Kingsbury blog & https://www.noelkingsbury.com/
Paints & wallpapers
- Colefax & Fowler – London store – country house wallpapers and fabrics
- de Gournay
- Gracie
- Farrow & Ball – nationwide, posh paints (worth visiting the shop to watch the clients agonise over paint colours: they are expensive and have cornered the market but if budget is a concern, paint something with a sample pot and take it to Dulux for colour matching!)
- Fromental
- Harrods
- Liberty
- Thibaut
- Patrick Baty (professional focusing on historic paint analysis)
- Harlequin (good linen-appearance wallpaper – Sefa range)
Fireplaces
Shutters
Furniture making & restoration
- https://www.jonathan-sainsbury.com/
- FURNITURE WAX: https://gilboys.co.uk/| BUY Gilboy’s wax
Wood flooring
Lighting & Electrical
LED lights: brightness is rate in lumens – a higher no. gives more light.
- table light: 350-500 lumens
- color temp. is measured in Kelvins – below 3000K = warm white; higher rating is a cooler light
Salvage & Auctions
- Lassco – (Central London)
- Drew Prichard (North Wales)
- Crystal Palace Antiques (London)
- Criterion Auctioneers – Islington & Wandsworth
- Bellmans auctioneers (pieces are often sent here by Central London ‘big name’ auction houses that wouldn’t make the big money to justify a central London sale room)
Other interior products
- Blacks Design – country house interior pieces (based in Northants)
- Botanicus.org – free downloadable botanic prints (I love a botanical print collection)
- Chelsea Harbour Design Centre
- Ikea hackers – see what you can turn IKEA bits into pending buying the real deal
- Ben Pentreath Ltd, London store with blog
- Horchow (US-based store but I wish it existed in the UK)
- http://www.stencil-library.com – wall stencils
- http://www.purlfrost.com/ – window film
DOOR FURNITURE
- http://www.thedoorknockercompany.co.uk/
- https://www.willowandstone.co.uk/
- http://www.broughtons.com/store/
- https://www.worldofbrass.co.uk/
GARDEN CENTRES & NURSERIES
These are a few that I’ve visited and would happily go back to (a work in progress).
- Crews Hill (and in particular, The Gardening Club) – North London (nr Enfield)
- Castle Howard Garden Centre (North Yorkshire) – next door to Castle Howard
- Dorney Court Walled Garden (nr Windsor, Berkshire) – Dorney Court itself is also open May/June
- King John’s Nursery (Kent) -nr Pashley Manor Gardens – there is also a show garden and historic house (extra cost)
- Merriments (Kent) – nr Pashley Manor Gardens – there is also a show garden (extra cost)
- The Walled Nursery (Kent)
Plants online
- Crocus.co.uk
- Hopleys.co.uk
- Kelways.co.uk
- Tendercare.co.uk – mature & specimen trees & shrubs
- http://www.hedgeworx.co.uk/ – hedging & topiary, including pleached trees
Landscaping & pots
- http://www.ashfieldgroup.com/ – stone
- http://www.ateliervierkant.com/ – pots
Garden designing
Design schools & interior designers
Overseas art/language/cooking courses
Florence
Art
- Accademia D’Art
- Florence Academy of Art
- Charles H Cecil Studios
- Leonardo da Vinci Art School (art, cookery, language)
- http://www.mamaflorence.com/en/ – cookery
Just a few that I read in addition to yours: A Country Farmhouse, Janelle McCulloch’s Library of Design, Carolyne Roehm, For the Love of a House, Quintessence.