Search results for ""Author James Stourton""

Discover the stories of some of the most breathaking and historic great houses of London, along with their secrets, in this lavishly illustrated compedium. London has a wealth of truly stunning great houses, seen by many as one of the marvels of English architecture, and yet to many their histories, their interiors and their occupants remain unknown. This book, illustrated throughout with sumptuous photography of these breathaking residences, reveals to us this secret world of riches and splendour. From the baroque and imposing magnificence of 10 Downing Street, perhaps London's most famous address, to the extraordinary Pre-Raphaelite mosaics of Debenham House to the confident, futuristic steel and glass of the Richard Rogers House in Chelsea, this book showcases these properties and details their origin as well as the many transformations they have undergone from their construction to the present day. There are many architectural wonders, among them Robert Adam's 20 St James’s Square and William Burges’s Tower House. Several — including Bridgewater House with its Raphaels and Titians — have held great art collections. These are houses that hold extraordinary stories: half the Cabinet resigned after breakfast at Stratford House; and on 4 August 1914, at 9 Carlton House Terrace — then the German Embassy — young duty clerk Harold Nicholson deftly substituted one declaration of war for another. With photography by the world-famous and multi-award winning Fritz von der Schulenburg, this title brings these houses to life in all their grandeur, and text from historian and author James Stourton delves into the many fascinating stories hidden behind the walls of these homes.Great Houses of London opens the door to some of the greatest and grandest houses in the world to tell the stories of their owners and occupants, artists and architects, their restoration, adaptation and change. Now available in a more compact format.

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What is heritage? When was it invented? What is its place in the world today? What is its place tomorrow? Heritage is all around us: millions belong to its organisations, tens of thousands volunteer for it, and politicians pay lip service to it. When the Victorians began to employ the term in something approaching the modern sense, they applied it to cathedrals, castles, villages and certain landscapes. Since then a multiplicity of heritage labels have arisen, cultural and commercial, tangible and intangible – for just as every era has its notion of heritage, so does every social group, and every generation. In Heritage, James Stourton focuses on elements of our cultural and natural environment that have been deliberately preserved: the British countryside and national parks, buildings such as Blenheim Palace and Tattershall Castle, and the works of art inside them. He charts two heroic periods of conservation – the 1880s and the 1960s – and considers whether threats of wealth, rampant development and complacency are similar in the present day. Heritage is both a story of crisis and profound change in public perception, and one of hope and regeneration.

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What is heritage? When was it invented? What is its place in the world today? What is its place tomorrow? Heritage is all around us: millions belong to its organisations, tens of thousands volunteer for it, and politicians pay lip service to it. When the Victorians began to employ the term in something approaching the modern sense, they applied it to cathedrals, castles, villages and certain landscapes. Since then a multiplicity of heritage labels have arisen, cultural and commercial, tangible and intangible – for just as every era has its notion of heritage, so does every social group, and every generation. In Heritage, James Stourton focuses on elements of our cultural and natural environment that have been deliberately preserved: the British countryside and national parks, buildings such as Blenheim Palace and Tattershall Castle, and the works of art inside them. He charts two heroic periods of conservation – the 1880s and the 1960s – and considers whether threats of wealth, rampant development and complacency are similar in the present day. Heritage is both a story of crisis and profound change in public perception, and one of hope and regeneration.

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The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958 Sotheby's of Bond Street staged an event sale' of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh and a Renoir. Movie stars and other celebrities attended in black tie and saw the seven lots go for 781,000 at the time the highest price for a single art sale.Overnight, London became the world centre of the art market and Sotheby's an international auction house. The event signalled a shift in power from dealers to auctioneers and pointed the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. In this climate Sotheby's and Christie's became a great business duopoly as aggressive, dominant and competitive in the field of art sales as Pepsi and Coca-Cola were in soft drinks. The resulting expansion of the market was accompanied by rocketing prices, colourful scandals and legal dramas. Over the decades,

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'Brings both house and garden vividly to life... A magnificent achievement' Gardens Illustrated 'A finely crafted work... it is an important record of the history of one of the country's most splendid estates' The English Garden The Palladian house of Stourhead, in Wiltshire, occupies a plateau above the confluence of three valleys. When you cross the south lawn and descend the tree-hung slopes, you glimpse a lake adorned with classical temples. Continue and you will find an allegorical grotto; a gothick hideaway; a Pantheon of demi-gods and, on high, a deserted temple to Apollo. To the west Alfred's Tower commands views over three counties, a gaunt landmark to English monarchy and patriotism. This is how in Georgian times Henry Hoare – known as Henry the Magnificent – would have explored the garden he designed. Generations of the Hoare family, bankers who combined service with enlightened patronage and philanthropy, have developed and cultivated the garden at Stourhead, and for many its breathtaking vistas are paradise. Dudley Dodd charts the owners of Stourhead and the history of the landscape, house and art collection. He describes how flights of folly, individual flair, taste and careful stewardship have nurtured a national treasure, which is among the finest English landscape gardens and, since 1946, a jewel of The National Trust. The stunning new pictures by the renowned photographer Marianne Majerus provide an up to date record of this enduring Elysium.

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