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Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Reviews, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JULY 9, 2025 PREVIEW

July 8, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The Expert’s Experts’…

9 July 2025 GIF image — Some of the highlights of this week’s Country Life.

Meet the coastal superheroes

John Lewis-Stempel celebrates the depth and breadth of sea-birds spotted over British waters, from the dive-bombing gannet to the pick-pocket herring gull

Magazine spread from Country Life 9 July 2025

Heavy petal

Catriona Gray meets artist Rachel Dein, whose botanical bas-reliefs really stand out from the crowd

I’ve got chills, they’re multiplying

Tom Parker Bowles savours the ultimate thirst quencher — a fruity and refreshing sorbet

Arts & antiques

Kenilworth Castle is reliving its central role in the 19-day wooing of Elizabeth I exactly 450 years on, as Carla Passino discovers

Back to Brideshead

Britain’s historic country houses are the much-loved stars of a host of films and television dramas, often leaving big-name actors in the shade, finds Ben Lerwill

The Experts’ Experts

Designers and architects from Country Life’s Top 100 throw open their contacts books to reveal the specialists they turn to when seeking inspiration for a country-house project

Peter Jones’s favourite painting

The chair of the British-Italian Society chooses a compelling and mysterious portrait of Christ

SAVE at 50

Founding trustee Simon Jenkins reflects on 50 years of SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the charity’s battles to safeguard a string of historic buildings

The legacy

Dedication’s what you need and Ross and Norris McWhirter, the twins behind the Guinness World Records, had it in abundance, as Amie Elizabeth White learns

Suits you!

When did the sodden knitwear cossie give way to the glamorous bikini? Deborah Nicholls-Lee dives into the history of swimwear

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell is beach ready with a collection of coastal favourites

Sheer bliss

Caroline Donald hails the blend of love and laissez-faire that has created a spectacular garden on an escarpment overlooking the sea at Ash Park in Devon

A smell by any other name

Ian Morton profiles the flora and fauna causing a stink in the natural world, some to attract a meal or mate, others to repel a predator

Tyger, tyger burning bright

Tipu Sultan threw a spanner in the works of Britain’s Imperial ambition, but the Tiger of Mysore was an inspiration to Blake and Keats, reveals Lucien de Guise

Winging it

Mark Cocker pays tribute to the beauty, elegance and laser-like predatory precision of the kestrel

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JUNE 25, 2025 PREVIEW

June 24, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Hearts of Stone’ – Why we love our ancient sites…

We’re still standing

Tom Howells explores the mystery and magnetism of the thousands of ancient British monoliths and monuments, from Cornwall to the Orkneys

Going down in a blazer of glory

It is a favourite of royalty and rowers, worn from Augusta to the Oscars — can there be a more versatile jacket than the blazer, asks Harry Pearson

Country Life International

• Russell Higham uncovers the secret society of Cascais
• Holly Kirkwood finds the age of chivalry alive and well in Valletta
• Matthew Dennison searches for traces of the Venetian Empire in Greece
• Tom Parker Bowles savours superb Spanish dishes
• Eileen Reid tracks the influence of two intellectual giants of Avignon

Winging it

Mark Cocker welcomes the renaissance of the peregrine falcon, a raptor that stoops to conquer at up to 240mph

New series: Scale model

Overfishing threatens the very existence of the cod, but Gadus morhua remains a monster of the deep for David Profumo

Dick Bird’s favourite painting

The stage designer chooses a monumental example of early-19th-century political art

The virtues of history

John Goodall celebrates 100 years of the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, one of London’s Great Twelve City Livery Companies

The legacy

Leslie Hore-Belisha created a beacon of hope for road users everywhere, finds Kate Green

Luxury

Anniversary jewels and Art Deco delights with Hetty Lintell, plus Willow Crossley’s favourite things

Interiors

Arabella Youens admires the kitchen of a house in the Scottish Borders and considers the earthly pleasures of terracotta

Laying ghosts to rest

A spectacular garden now graces the grounds of the old Somerset-shire Coal Canal Company HQ, as Caroline Donald discovers

Water, water everywhere

John Lewis-Stempel delves into the depths of a field pond, mesmerised by the seemingly endless variety of aquatic life

Arts & antiques

A quartet of journeys with The King raised the profile of plein-air artist Warwick Fuller, who talks Royal Tours with Carla Passino

Making an impression

French Impressionism was a slow burner in Britain as Monet and Pissarro gradually influenced our art scene, reveals Caroline Bugler

And much more

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – JUNE 4, 2025 PREVIEW

June 3, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (June 3, 2025): The latest issue features...

The Hampshire Chronicles

From trout to treasure and wine to witches, it’s the county that has it all. Country Life writers present 13 tales tall and true from Hampshire’s rich history.

Country Life magazine spreads 4 June 2025

The legacy

Kate Green salutes Edward, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu and his matchless motoring collection

A room with a view

Adam Rattray visits the rented lodgings where Jane Austen spent her final days and reveals secrets recently uncovered in the house in Winchester, Hampshire

City of legend

Winchester is a place of kings and cobbles. Jason Goodwin visits our venerable one-time capital and finds it ageing well

London Life

Will Hosie welcomes top-class women’s tennis back to The Queen’s Club and washes down burgers with martinis to mark the return of the high-low restaurant, plus our writers have all you need to know this month

Travel

Emma Love has all the latest news, from Arles to Antwerp, Steven King hails the revival of Madrid and Pamela Goodman learns to love camels

Into the Goodwood

The West Sussex estate’s fresh focus on art and education is heralded with an exhibition of Dame Rachel Whiteread’s work

Nishat Khan’s favourite painting

The composer and musician chooses a fascinating scene that you could almost step into

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell strides into summer with bold red-and-white stripes

Interiors

A copper-topped kitchen catches the eye of Arabella Youens

Shape shifters

Non Morris is mesmerised by the tiered grass amphitheatre sculpted by Kim Wilkie in the garden of The Holt in Hampshire

Winging it

Mark Cocker hails the majestic merlin, the favoured hunting foil of Mary, Queen of Scots

Arts & antiques

Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst tells Carla Passino why she’ll never part with a remarkable drawing of a little girl with her hair ablaze

Culture, History, Homes, Magazines, Travel, Uncategorized

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – MAY 7, 2025 PREVIEW

May 7, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (May 7, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Cotswolds Issue’…

An outpouring of joy

Jubilation and bittersweet tears greeted the end of hostilities in 1945, reports Octavia Pollock.

May 7 issue spreads — Mrs Olga Hopkins, Second World War veteran, takes centre stage on this week’s Frontispiece.

The carver, the baker and fancy shoemaker

Jane Wheatley meets some of the craftspeople enhancing the Cotswolds’ standing as a hive of creativity.

‘I am the Marquis of marmite’

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is applying his trademark swagger to a new passion for painting, reveals James Fisher.

Nothing lasts forever

Laura Parker reveals in those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments that only Nature can provide.

The Cotswolds never disappoints (above)

Penny Churchill showcases glorious country houses for sale in two ‘golden triangles’.

All set for the Chelsea chop?

This it the time to prune our late-flowering herbaceous perennials — join John Hoyland in wielding the secateurs.

Martina Froth’s favourite painting

The Yale Centre for British Art Director chooses a work tinged with a melancholy sadness.

An estate made public

John Goodall investigates the gradual architectural revolution of Bowood in Wiltshire, a house that boasts a remarkable history.

The legacy

Kate Green pay tribute to Alan Turing, the code cracker who curtailed the Second World War.

The Badminton A-Z (above)

From amateur riders to Zaragoza, Kate Green guides you through the world-class eventing action.

New series: Winging it

The elegant hobby is capable of snatching swallows in flight — Mark Cocker is rapt by raptors.

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell is wowed by watches.

Interiors

Restful bedroom furniture and accessories, with Amelia Thorpe.

London Life

Rosie Paterson reveals how bees are creating a buzz in the capital, our writers have all your need to know this month and Selina Cadell shares her on-stage experiences of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

A soft touch

Tiffany Daneff marvels at the flower-filled paradise of Hampnett House in Gloucestershire.

Travel (above)

Emma Love has an eye for adventure, Mark Hedges goes wild on safari in Botswana, Rosie Paterson hits the walking trail in Sri Lanka and Pamela Goodman hail’s Giubbilei’s gardens.

Art and antiques

Simon Finch tells Carla Passino he will not part with his £1 note signed by a Great Train Robber.

One king to rule them all

Mary Miers explores the artistic and cultural legacy of James I.

Culture, Gardens, History, Homes, Magazines, Reviews, Uncategorized

Country Life Magazine – March 19, 2025 Preview

March 19, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (March 19, 2025): The cover of Country Life’s 19 March 2025 issue, featuring Wollerton Old Hall Garden in Shropshire,

Building on a dream

Nicola Taylor tells Tiffany Daneff how she ‘picked up a spade and carried on’ where her father left off in a Northamptonshire wood

It starts with a seed

Is there anything more satisfying than growing a plant from seed? Find out how with John Hoyland

The ground crew

Christopher Stocks meets the unsung heroes and heroines of horticulture who keep Britain’s best gardens in mint condition

Shocking pinks

Tilly Ware recommends a trip to Cornwall’s Calamazag nursery to pick up the perfect pinks

United colours of Rolls-Royce

Toby Keel finds the British marque making a bold, banana-yellow statement as he gets behind the wheel of the new Series II Ghost

A uniform approach

Never try to appear fashionable or attempt to look young — Dylan Jones shares his golden rules on how to dress in your sixties

Hare’s to you

Murderous, mad and magnificent: the hare is a fascinating figure in art, discovers Michael Prodger

Sir James MacMillan’s favourite painting

The composer chooses a bold and moving religious painting

The architect for me

In the first of two articles, Clive Aslet examines the double act of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and client Reginald McKenna

Take it with a pinch of salt

Deborah Nicholls-Lee examines the salt-loving plants coming into their own in a changing climate

A night on the tiles

Harry Pearson finds drunken may-hem in the history of dominoes

The good stuff

A vase is a Mother’s Day gift that keeps on giving, says Hetty Lintell

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe applauds the updating of a Wiltshire sitting room, as Arabella Youens asks: are you sitting comfortably?

Sour to the people

Fish and chips wouldn’t be fish and chips without a glug of malt vinegar, argues Rob Crossan

Pho sure

Asian noodle soup tempts Tom Parker Bowles with its thrilling symphony of fragrant flavours

Foraging

Handle with care when picking hogweed and cow parsley for the kitchen, warns John Wright

Arts & antiques

Carlo Passino throws the spotlight on the engaging drawings of literary legend Victor Hugo

Directors take centre stage

Shakespeare and Chekhov are given an imaginative new spin — and Michael Billington approves

And much more

Arts, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Tourism, Travel

Country Life Magazine – March 5, 2025 Preview

March 4, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (March 4, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The enfant terribile’ – Michelangelo; London’s best bakeries and why 1775 rocked; Charles Dance; Cheltenham and kitchen confidential…

The year the stars came out

A host of luminaries that were born in 1775 still shape British identity some 250 years on, as Matthew Dennison discovers

A horse walks into a bar…

Jack Watkins raises a glass to the Cheltenham superstars immortalised in the bars and restaurants at Prestbury Park

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe cooks up a real treat with the latest inspiration and innovations for the kitchen

London Life

– Amie Elizabeth White celebrates 100 years of the Dickens museum, plus Country Life’s guide to the best baked goods in the capital

Arts & antiques

Charles Dance talks to Carla Passino about Michelangelo, mentoring and why the Sistine chapel is like playing King Lear

The good, the bad and the ugly

Michael Hall delves into the genius of Michelangelo, at once the enfant prodige and enfant terribile of the Renaissance

Simon Martin’s favourite painting

The art-gallery director selects a beguiling 17th-century miniature revealing a connection to Nature

A regal renewal

John Goodall hails the revival of Restoration House in Kent, a magnificent property that welcomed Charles II in 1660

The legacy

Agnes Stamp hails the ‘British Barnum’ Charles Cruft, whose dog show is still best in class

Shiver me timbers

The once-popular black poplar could be our secret weapon in the battle against climate change, finds Vicky Liddell

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell’s top tips on what to wear to the Cheltenham Festival

And it was all yellow

Charles Quest-Ritson brightens his day with the cheerful flowers of the ever-dependable forsythia

Sharp practice

The thorny old issue of pruning roses, with Charles Quest-Ritson

Foraging

Is tapping birch-tree sap worth the bother, asks John Wright

Travel

Emma Love shares the latest cruise news, Imogen West-Knights finds everything shipshape in the South of France, John Niven follows in the wake of Mr Mississippi Mark Twain and Pamela Goodman’s birthday treats take on a life of their own

Architecture, Design, Home Design, Tours, Videos

Tours: ‘Te Arai Beach House’ In New Zealand

Video January 31, 2025 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE LOCAL PROJECT (January 31, 2025): Nestled between the forest and the ocean on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, Te Arai Beach House manifests as a contemporary cabin in the woods. “The power of the site when we first visited was in the ocean, the forest and the sand dunes.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the cabin in the woods 01:27 – The early design discussions 02:12 – Interior designers own home 03:27 – The layout of the home 04:30 – A warm material palette 06:56 – Collaborating with artists 07:38 – Rewarding Aspects 08:08 – Proud Moments

So we wanted to provide a building that doesn’t challenge or reduce the sense of beauty that’s already there,” says Tim Hay, design director and co-founder at Fearon Hay. “We instantly looked, in terms of the architecture, to references that related to those different thresholds – the ability to emerge from the forest, discover the ocean, but still have a sense of protection,” notes Hay. “So this idea of the cabin in the woods was an idea that stuck from very early on.”

From afar, Te Arai Beach House appears to be a series of simple, unambiguous silhouettes. However, as one moves closer, complexity is revealed through blurred thresholds, operable screens and considered openings. The first building is a cabin that contains a garage and guest occupation. “This sits between an open space that frames a courtyard and the main building, which is set to the ocean, and is fundamentally a pair of open suites that capture an open plan living space between them,” explains Hay.

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Architecture: Kārearea House In New Zealand

Video December 14, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The Local Project (December 15, 2024): Located in the Wakatipu Basin on New Zealand’s South Island, Kārearea House by RTA Studio, which takes inspiration from the region’s majestic native falcons, is the most breathtaking home shaped by nature.

00:00 – Introduction to the Most Breathtaking Home 01:12 – The Location Centred Brief 02:36 – Approaching the Home 03:09 – Walkthrough of the House 04:11 – Restrained Interior Styling 05:44 – The Kitchen Design and Appliances 07:21 – A Balanced Material Palette 08:29 – Curating The Views 09:21 – Proud Moments

What defines it, however, is the site’s staggering 360-degree views to The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and the Crown Range, and the architects’ response to these multifaceted aspects. “We’ve done a few houses in this area and, over the years, we’ve developed an approach that’s firstly about identifying the significant views,” says Richard Naish, founder of RTA Studio.

Though Naish acknowledges that the perspectives are a gift, he believes good architecture is more about the control and release of views. This philosophy underscored RTA Studio’s approach to crafting the most breathtaking home shaped by nature. The roof lines played heavily into this idea; designed to follow the contours of the land and echo the surrounding topography, the roof dips in parts and soars in others, creating views both vast and precise.

#Nature #Home #NewZealand

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Australia Design: Burnt Earth Beach House Tour

Video December 3, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The Local Project (December 3, 2024): Located in Anglesea on Victoria’s surf coast, Burnt Earth Beach House is an architect’s own home inspired by nature. Architect John Wardle designs a holiday home deeply embedded in its landscape, grounded in an enduring love of terracotta, a fascination with ceramics and the unique beauty of bricks.

00:00 – Introduction to the Architect’s Own Home 01:48 – Walkthrough and Layout of the Home 03:18 – The Material Palette 04:48 – The Bathing Spaces 06:12 – Unique and Favourite Moments 07:16 – Creating A Special Place

As an architect’s own home inspired by nature, Burnt Earth Beach House reflects the hues and tonality of the ochre-coloured cliff edges of Anglesea just beyond. “It was very important that we do something here that would transcend time but do so in a way that is completely different from our homes in Melbourne,” says John Wardle, founding partner of Wardle. The home’s facade is expressed through an invented brick developed alongside brickmaker Klynton Krause.

The process involved extrusion and hand tearing the brick surface prior to cutting, which exposes a raw, uneven surface, making every brick unique. Approaching the architect’s own home inspired by nature, a courtyard acts as an informal living zone and is bordered by a kitchen that houses a vast square central terracotta island bench. The space then bends around into the dining area with a reading nook that looks into the courtyard. Upstairs, a study appears to float overhead, enveloped in a hand-knotted screening from Vietnam.

#Architect #Nature #Home

Architecture, Home Design, Homes, Tours, Videos

Tours: Iconic Mid-Century Modern In Palm Springs

Video November 12, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The Local Project (November 12, 2024): Inside an iconic mid-century home designed by Steven Harris Architects, Palm Springs Residence is a study in restraint, honouring both the existing structure and the work of those who came before. This sensitive renovation reimagines the original house, known as Charney House, designed by Donald Wexler in 1956.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Iconic Mid-century Home 00:52 – The Original Plan and Inspiration 02:18 – A Minimal Layout 02:48 – The Afternoon Light and Vibes 03:46 – A Very California House 04:05 – Proud Moments

“Wexler was brilliant, with an extraordinary sense of syntax and grammar; everything lines up with everything,” says Steven Harris, partner at Steven Harris Architects. Interestingly, Harris and his partner bought the house accidentally. “We were helping another friend with their house and fell in love with the place,” recalls Harris. After spending time inside an iconic mid-century home designed by Wexler, Harris’s vision was rooted in preserving as much of the original as possible. “Almost everything here is original to the house,” he notes. “For me, the greatest liability would be for someone to drive by on the street and immediately say, ‘oh! that’s a Steven Harris house.’”

Alterations inside the iconic mid-century home designed by Wexler were largely stylistic and inspired by a Wassily Kandinsky painting. “If you look at it from the air, you will see flashes and curves and various shapes, which on one hand is quite graphic, and on the other, almost every view is perspectival because the things you’re looking at are only oblique. Things shift off of each other in a very curious and interesting way.” Stepping inside an iconic mid-century home designed by Wexler, the front door is indicated by a covered passage, flanked by an oblique terrazzo sidewalk extending from the driveway.