Illustrated Grand Estates and Châteaux

Illustrated Stately Homes and Grand Châteaux.

Jacobean, Châteauesque, Italianate Styles…

A new illustrated series I started on grand estates, villas and châteaux in Europe and the US.

When we travel, abroad or here in the US, I love touring beautiful homes - the gardens, the furnishings, the art and decorative arts are so wonderful.

Here at home, the closest thing we have to anything in Europe is the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. We’ve been there several times and it’s gorgeous. If you’ve never been, it’s definitely worth a trip, there’s a lot to see besides the main house too. They have a vineyard, and the surrounding grounds are vast and walkable.

Three French estates…

In England, stately homes, castles, palaces and grand manor homes are everywhere. I’m so envious, I would be out every weekend touring if I lived there.

France, of course, has their gorgeous châteaux and villas.

However, here in the Midwest USA, we do have some pretty impressive mansions from the auto industrial barons - Ford, Dodge, Stan Hywet (Goodyear). I’ve toured all of these - and you can find posts on them here, along with the Biltmore.

The Biltmore is in the French Châteauesque architectural style, but the auto baron mansions I just mentioned are all in the Tudor Revival style, which was very popular at the time (I love it).

Anway, so that’s what was going on in the studio today, illustrating and looking through books on grand architecture.