Montacute House

South Somerset / United Kingdom

Montacute House is a late Elizabethan mansion with garden in Montacute, South Somerset. An example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical, and one of few prodigy houses to survive almost unchanged from the Elizabethan era, the house has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was visited by 125,442 people in 2013. Designed by an unknown architect, possibly the mason William Arnold, the three-storey mansion, constructed of the local Ham Hill stone, was built in about 1598 by Sir Edward Phelips, Master of the Rolls and the prosecutor during the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters.Sir Edward Phelips' descendants occupied the house until the early 20th century. For a brief period the house was let to tenants, one of whom was Lord Curzon, who lived at the house with his mistress, the novelist Elinor Glyn. In 1927, it was acquired by the National Trust. The house is maintained by the National Trust. Its Long Gallery, the longest in England, serves as a South-West outpost of the National Portrait Gallery displaying a skilful and well-studied range of old oils and watercolours. Montacute and its gardens have been a filming location for several films and a setting for television costume dramas and literary adaptations.

Lytes Cary

South Somerset / United Kingdom

Lytes Cary is a manor house with associated chapel and gardens near Charlton Mackrell and Somerton in Somerset, England. The property, owned by the National Trust, has parts dating to the 14th century, with other sections dating to the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries. "Yet all parts blend to perfection with one another and with the gentle sunny landscape that surrounds them," comments Nikolaus Pevsner. The House is listed as Grade I by English Heritage. The chapel predates the existing house, having been built around 1343, and functioned as a chantry chapel, where masses could be said for the souls of the family, both living and dead. The great hall was added in the 15th century and the Oriel Room in the 16th. Various renovations were undertaken during the 16th and 17th centuries after which the house fell into disrepair with the north range being demolished by the early 19th century. In 1907 Sir Walter Jenner of the Jenner baronets bought the house and restored it in a period style, furnishing it with fine 17th century and 18th century oak furniture, antique tapestries and fabrics modelled after medieval textiles, along with historic and period paintings. On his death in 1948 he left the house to the National Trust. The gardens are listed as Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. The original 17th-century gardens have disappeared. However, the Jenners laid them out in an Arts and Crafts style with a series of 'rooms', which are separated from each other by high, neatly clipped box and yew hedges. These are complemented by ponds and walks in and between each of the 'rooms'.

Dillington House

South Somerset / United Kingdom

Dillington House is a residential adult education college near Ilminster in the parish of Whitelackington, Somerset, England. The present house, which dates from the 16th century, is owned by Lord Cameron of Dillington and operated by Somerset County Council. There has been a house on the site since before the Norman Conquest, probably taking advantage of the nearby chalybeate spring nearby.