Suzy Says

Love/hate for Friday, August 16, 2002
Stately Homes

I love to visit stately homes when I’m in the U.K. Though I have been visiting there all of my remembered life, I still haven’t seen them all. On my trip to England next month, I’m planning to see Chatsworth, one of the houses Bess of Hardwick built (one of the others she built, Hardwick Hall, is on my to see list, too, as is Castle Howard, where Brideshead Revisited was filmed). Bess was an amazing woman. Born in 1527, she managed to amass more wealth than anyone other than the Queen, whose name she shared. She outlived her many husbands and died at the age of 81, well beyond the normal lifespan in those days, leaving the legacy of her remarkable homes and their outstanding collections.

The great houses appeal to me on many levels. I am half English and have spent a fair amount of time in that sceptr’ed isle. I feel the strength of my family’s roots there, increasingly so as I get older. So I appreciate being in the presence of our common history, and the wonder of walking the same floors as Kings, Queens, and other greats of the past, noble and otherwise. I’m thankful that the National Trust has helped to preserve so many of these wonderful buildings, from Bess’ splendid mansions to Beatrix Potter’s cottage.

I also appreciate the sheer beauty of the buildings and gardens, their architecture and decoration. I think it’s wonderful to see centuries-old wood carved by the great and delightfully named Grinling Gibbons, or an exquisite Adam fireplace. Whether austere or baroque, I never get tired of the glorious architecture of the past, so infinitely superior to anything being built now. I have to agree with the Prince of Wales that most modern architecture is hideous, though I don’t know if I would go as far as he did when he observed that all the Germans did during WWII was to destroy buildings, not build ugly new ones.

Many of these great houses, besides being inherently beautiful and of historical interest, also house great collections of art and sculpture that would not otherwise be seen by the public. Even John has to admit that this is the egalitarian truth. The owners of these homes are charged with a great responsibility, both to their family, preserving their heritage for generations to come, and to the nation, indeed the world.

With the changes in our modern world, the introduction of income tax, spiralling inflation and chaos in the financial world, many of these owners do have to open their homes to the public to try and cover the crippling cost of keeping the houses in repair. It must be rather uncomfortable to have strangers walking through your home and examining it, and surely noblemen have feelings as well as commoners? And they may also be motivated by wishing to share the richness of their home and family history as well. I don’t think it’s fair to assume their motives are selfish just because they happen to be descended from nobility. None of us chooses our parents, and surely it’s only prejudice or jealousy to impugn the motives or lives of the owners of these great houses, who are preserving our common history for generations to come.