Historic house
 | This is Wikipedia's current article for improvement – and you can help edit it! You can discuss how to improve it on its talk page and ask questions at the help desk or Teahouse. See the cheatsheet, tutorial, editing help and FAQ for additional information. Editors are encouraged to create a Wikipedia account and place this article on their watchlist.
Find sources: "Historic house" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR |
 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2010) |
A historic house can be a stately home, the birthplace of a famous person, or a house with an interesting history or architecture that has received historic designation by an official body, often ensuring its preservation.
Background
Houses were first thought of as historic rather than just old or interesting, during the early 19th century. Government protection was first given during the late 19th century.
Historic homes are often eligible for special grant awards for preservation. What makes a historic home significant is often its architecture or its significance to the culture or history of an area. There are some organizations that offer services to research the history of a home, while others provide repositories for users to document the history of their homes.
Historic homes may still be inhabited, and should not be confused with historic house museums.
English historic houses
The following are historic houses in England.
- Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire – Medieval fortified keep and house with state apartments
- Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire – Vanbrugh's monument to the 1st Duke of Marlborough and England
- Brighton Pavilion, Sussex – Prince Regent's Oriental palace
- Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire – Elizabethan opulence round medieval core
- Burton Agnes Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire – Late-Elizabethan house by Robert Smythson
- Castle Howard, North Yorkshire – Vanbrugh's Baroque palace
- Chatsworth House, Derbyshire – Ducal palace in parkland setting
- Haddon Hall, Derbyshire – Medieval fortified hall house round courtyard
- Hampton Court, west London – Palace of Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII, converted by Christopher Wren, Vanbrugh and William Kent
- Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire – Greatest English prodigy house, built for Bess of Hardwick
- Harewood House, West Yorkshire – Robert Adam palace altered by Charles Barry, Old Master collection
- Holkham Hall, Norfolk – Masterpiece of Palladian revival, with original decoration
- Kensington Palace, Central London – Christopher Wren palace, William Kent state rooms, Mary II of England's domestic apartments
- Kingston Lacy, Dorset – Italian palazzo housing Grand Tour collections
- Kiplin Hall, North Yorkshire – Jacobean craftmanship with other styles in an English country house
- Knole, Kent – Medieval and Jacobean palace of the Barons Sackville, cream of Elizabethan and Jacobean craftmanship
- Parham House, Sussex – Elizabethan house barely altered, with collection of rare embroidery
- Speke Hall, Lancashire – Elizabethan mansion, restored but largely as built
- Syon House, west London – Robert Adam's greatest interiors in Thames-side mansion
- Wilton House, Wiltshire – Palladian palace with Inigo Jones and James Wyatt interiors
- Windsor Castle, Berkshire – Favoured home of the monarch, state rooms of all periods
Welsh historic houses
The following are historic houses in Wales.
- Castell Coch, South Glamorgan – Built on the foundations of a castle of the late 13th century by William Burges in 1871-91 as a summer residence for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
- Erddig, Wrexham – Built in 1683-93, with wings added in the 1720s and a fascinating blend of later redecoration
- Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd – The most impressive of the late Georgian and early Victorian pretend-castles, built in 1820-45 by Thomas Hopper for the Pennant family
- Plas Mawr, Conwy – Described with considerable justification as the best-preserved Elizabethan town house in Britain, with a gatehouse added in 1585 to the house built in 1576-80 by Robert Wynn
- Powis Castle, Powys – Built by the Prince of Powys in the late 13th century, with notable interiors from the 1580s, the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and the early 20th century
Scottish historic houses
The following are historic houses in Scotland.
- Brodie Castle, Moray – Built in the 1560s, enlarged in the 1630s and 1820s, and with a splendid art collection
- Culzean Castle, Ayrshire – Built between 1776 and 1792 by Robert Adam for the David Kennedy, 10th Earl of Cassilis, but both men died in 1792, leaving their work unfinished
- Holmwood House, Glasgow – A picturesque suburban villa built in 1857-8 for papermill-owner James Couper, possibly the finest work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson
- Mount Stuart House, Isle of Bute – One of the most splendid and extraordinary houses in Britain, built in 1878-1900 for the wealthiest man in Britain, John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
Northern Irish historic houses
The following are historic houses in Northern Ireland.
- Castle Coole, Co Fermanagh is neoclassical mansion began by James Wyatt for Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore in 1790-97, but only finally furnished 36 years later.
Historic houses in the U.S.
Houses are increasingly being designated as historic in the United States as a way to resuscitate neighbourhoods and increase the economic health of surrounding urban areas.[1] Designating a house as historic increases the value of that house as well as others in the same neighbourhood.[1][2] This can result in increased development of nearby homes and create a ripple effect that spreads to surrounding neighbourhoods.[3] Homeowners must pay to have their homes designated historic, so there is not necessarily an economic benefit to those doing so.[1]
French Colonial historic houses in the U.S.
- Bequette-Ribault House, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri – circa 1790s French Colonial
- Beauvais-Amoureux House, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri – circa 1792 French Colonial
- Louis Bolduc House, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri – circa 1792 French Colonial
- Jacques Guibourd Historic House, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri – circa 1806 French Colonial
See also
- List of historic houses
- List of Irish Towns with a Market House
- National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
- National Register of Historic Places
- UK Historic Houses Association
References
- ^ a b c Coulson, Edouard N.; Leichenko, Robin M. (2001). "The Internal and External Impact of Historical Designation on Property Values". Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. 23 (1). Kluwer Academic Publishers: 113–124. doi:10.1023/A:1011120908836.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|subscription=ignored (|url-access=suggested) (help) - ^ Narwold, Andrew; Sandy, Jonathan; Tu, Charles (2008). "Historic Designation and Residential Property Values" (PDF). International Real Estate Review. 11 (1): 83–95. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ Zahirovic-Herbert, Velma; Gibler, Karen M. (January 2014). "Historic District Influence on House Prices and Marketing Duration". The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. 48 (1): 112–131. doi:10.1007/s11146-012-9380-1.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|subscription=ignored (|url-access=suggested) (help)
External links
- E. Stewart 2011 'A History of Historic House Reconstruction: Understanding the Past and Informing the Future', Internet Archaeology 29.
- Historic Houses Association of Australia
- Parks Canada – Canada's Historic Places
- UK Historic Houses Association
- US National Park Service's Register of Historic Places
- The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses - database of over 7,000 houses
- Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens – UK guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
- Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England – list of over 1,700 houses
- National Trust for Historic Preservation – online database of historic houses in the United States
