magine if your home had turrets, a ballroom, or a maze in the garden. Some people's homes have all those things. But while life in a palace -- or a castle -- might sound like a fairytale existence, it costs a princely sum of money to run a stately home.
Heating, keeping the roof in good repair and mowing the lawns all drain the coffers, and those lucky enough to inherit a country pile have to find ways to finance them.
Most of the UK's stately homes were built in the 17th and 18th centuries as manor houses at the heart of an agricultural estate, explains Ben Cowell, director general of the Historic Houses Association, which helps owners of 1,650 houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK to conserve them.
"Owners made money from renting land to tenant farmers," says Cowell, "but many also invested in industry, mining, or railways, which helped to replenish the family fortune and fund a country house way of life."
The large estates provided employment for hundreds of people and supported providers of food, fuel and services. But, over the past two centuries, thousands of country houses have been torn down. "There were almost 5,000 mansions at their mid 19th century peak, but that number has almost halved -- only about 3,000 remain today."
Imagine if your home had turrets, a ballroom, or a maze in the garden. Some people's homes have all those things. But while life in a palace -- or a castle -- might sound like a fairytale existence, it costs a princely sum of money to run a stately home.
Heating, keeping the roof in good repair and mowing the lawns all drain the coffers, and those lucky enough to inherit a country pile have to find ways to finance them.
Most of the UK's stately homes were built in the 17th and 18th centuries as manor houses at the heart of an agricultural estate, explains Ben Cowell, director general of the Historic Houses Association, which helps owners of 1,650 houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK to conserve them.
"Owners made money from renting land to tenant farmers," says Cowell, "but many also invested in industry, mining, or railways, which helped to replenish the family fortune and fund a country house way of life."
The large estates provided employment for hundreds of people and supported providers of food, fuel and services. But, over the past two centuries, thousands of country houses have been torn down. "There were almost 5,000 mansions at their mid 19th century peak, but that number has almost halved -- only about 3,000 remain today."