Country houses were grand statements of power and status, but they were also places where people lived. This book traces the changes in layout, the new technologies, and the innovations in furniture that made them more convenient and comfortable. It argues that these material changes were just one aspect of comfort in the country house: feeling comfortable was just as important as being comfortable. Achieving this involved the comfort and solace to be found in daily routines, religious faith and, above all, relationships with family and friends. Such emotional comforts, and the attachment to things and places that embodied and memorialized them, made country houses into homes.

Harper's informs a diverse body of readers of cultural, business, political, literary and scientific affairs.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

This volume of primary source materials documents the spatial layouts of the nineteenth century home as they often became more precisely planned with rooms for specific purposes being developed. The styles began to truly reflect the owner’s taste and position. The range is of course vast from single room dwellings to large-scale mansions and numerous variations in-between. Accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, this collection will be of great interest to students and scholars of art history.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1841.