Secret Houses of the Cotswolds by Jeremy Musson

Secret Houses of the Cotswolds by Jeremy Musson ISBN-13: 9780711239241 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Frances Lincoln Released: March 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
A personal tour of twenty of the UK’s most beguiling castles, estates, palaces and manor houses in this much-loved area of western England, including Daylesford, Stanway, Sudeley Castle and Hilles House. Author and architectural historian, Jeremy Musson, and Cotswolds-based photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas, offer privileged access to twenty houses, from castles and manor houses, as well as eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mansions, revealing their history, architecture and interiors, in the company of their devoted owners.

In the footsteps of artists and designers including Humphry and George Repton, and Victorian visionary, William Morris, who inspired the arts and crafts movement, and others such as Detmar Blow, Norman Jewson, Clough Williams-Ellis and Oliver Hill, we find a series of fascinating country houses of different sizes and atmospheres, which have shaped the English identity. Each house has their own story, but their distinctive honey-coloured stone walls, set amongst rolling hills, in different ways express the ideals of English life. Most of the houses included here are privately owned and not usually open to the public. In this beautifully produced book, they can now be enjoyed through the eyes of their owners, as well as an experienced architectural historian, and an award-winning photographer.


My Review:
Secret Houses of the Cotswolds looks at 20 country houses, manors, mansions, and castles in this area. The book contained beautiful, full-color photographs of several angles of the outside of each house and of some of the rooms inside the house. The author talked about the history of each house, including who owned the house at various times and the changes they made to the inside and to the area surrounding the house. We also got some stories about what it's like to renovate or live in the house from recent or current owners. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to people who are interested in the large, historical houses of the Cotswolds.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.