Grand houses (original) (raw)

Grand houses are buildings created to house either the nobility and royalty, or in later eras, those that had made their fortune by various means. Whilst some grand houses are or were palaces, other châteaux, stately homes, manor houses, Schloss and Residenz can be considered as grand houses. Some are or have been owned by monarchies, or used for government functions and police and military ceremonies.

Map

Map of Grand houses

A palace is a grand residence, usually for a head of state. The word comes from the French word palais, which implies that the building is in a city.

A castle is a fortification from the Middle Ages (9th to 15th century) used as a royal or noble residence, especially in Europe and Japan.

Château (plural châteaux) is the French word for a countryside manor or palace; the master residence of a countryside estate. Schloss (traditional spelling Schloß) is the corresponding German word. If these buildings are from the 15th century or earlier, they are likely to be fortified.

A manor is in English law an estate with a manorial court; jurisdiction over an estate.

Today, many palaces and grand houses are used as museums, hospitality venues, diplomatic missions or government premises.

Forbidden City seen from Jingshan Hill

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the architecture of residences in China was strictly regulated by law. Yellow roof tiles (like what is seen on the Forbidden City) were restricted to the residences and tombs of the Emperor, Empress and Empress Dowager. Princes, princesses and Imperial Concubines were only allowed to use green roof tiles, while commoners could only use gray roof tiles (provided they could afford it; in practice thatched roofs were more common).

Modern Indonesia is a republic, but there are some palaces that were the seats of historical monarchies, and some regions still have traditional monarchs, albeit largely stripped of their political power today.

During the Edo period, Japan had a strict caste system with no social mobility permitted. The samurai were the Japanese equivalent of European knights, and the leader of the samurai, known as the shogun, served as the de facto ruler of Japan. The Emperor and his court nobles (or kuge) continued to rule in name, but had been largely reduced to ceremonial figureheads, albeit still with far more privileges than commoners. Only samurai of middle rank or higher, imperial court nobles and royalty were allowed to have walled houses and tiled roofs, while commoners were only allowed to live in much simpler dwellings with thatched or wooden shingle roofs.

Korea was a monarchy until 1910 with a strict caste system. Only the nobility, known in Korea as the yangban (양반), and royalty were permitted to have houses with roof tiles, while commoners were only allowed to live in houses with thatched roofs.

Kultaranta in Naantali

Finland was made a republic on independence, and the Finnish nobility in Swedish and Russian times was rather poor, so the mansions are not as spectacular as in Central Europe or even Sweden. A few mansions are museums, while many are mostly accessible in connection with irregular public events. Some house private and business events, or retreats, and might also welcome individual visitors.

France has for most of its long history been a feudal monarchy (see Kingdom of France) with a wealthy noble class known for their great châteaux.

A Schloss (pre-1998 spelling in Germany and Austria Schloß) is usually a representative building that serves either as the main residence of a minor blue blood or a secondary residence of a higher ranking blue blood whereas a Residenz is the main residence and usually in the capital. Germany was not unified until 1871; and until then had been a collection of small German-speaking states that were frequently at war with one another.

Italy was not unified until 1871; from the fall of the Roman Empire until then, the Italian peninsula was made up of collection of small city-states that were often at war with one another.

The Russian Empire was consolidated in the early modern era. The revolutions of 1917 gave rise to the Soviet Union.

The Russian term dacha (дача) is used to refer to holiday homes in the suburban countryside. For ordinary Russian citizens, this is usually nothing more than a simple wooden cottage, sometimes with a small vegetable garden. However, the dachas of the Russian elites often display over the top opulence.

In Sweden, the word slott (from German Schloss) is used for a sometimes fortified residence for a king or a local ruler. Palats is used for palace-styled townhouses. Neither word has a fixed definition. Castles and fortresses primarily for defence are called borg (medieval) or fästning (later).

Most castles and fortifications in Sweden were made for the Swedish Empire of the 16th to 18th centuries.

Stockholm quay palace tour includes palaces of royals, nobles and merchants from several centuries.

The first "grand houses" in the United Kingdom were predominantly residences for the monarchy, nobility, and sometimes prominent religious officials. Alongside the grand houses of these, are those that were built by those that had acquired their wealth either by favour, or by doing exceptionally well in trade or various industries (which developed from the 17th century onward). As well as being residences, the grand houses of some were also intended as a showcase for the artworks which the owners had "collected", or designs they had commissioned.

The peak for grand houses came in the early 20th century, after which high death duties caused many grand houses to go into decline. For some the first efforts at tourism and visitor attraction development, were motivated more by pressing economic concerns, than history or preservation! Many grand houses are now owned by and run by the National Trust.

In older grand houses, you might want to look out for interesting architectural features, such as celing-high carved panelling, long gallerys, and high but elaborately decorated ceilings amongst others. Some grand houses may even have concealed internal passages (more fancifully, to hide those for whom turbulent times were a concern, but more practically as a way for household staff access without causing disruption to residents or guests.)

Chapultepec Castle

In the United States, there is no nobility, but there has been a kind of quasi-nobility that has encompassed old landowning families like the Roosevelts, the robber barons of yesteryear like the Astor, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller families, and today, the uber-rich bankers; corporate CEOs, and mass-content creators (moguls and stars alike). Many of these people had mansions built in the New York area, including the Hudson Valley and Long Island, in the Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, and in Florida.

Swimming pool at Hearst Castle

Historically, most American cities had a "Millionaires' Row" where the wealthy bankers and industrialists had their mansions, but most of them were demolished or fell into urban decay with the rise of the automobile in the post-World War II period as wealthy white Americans moved to the suburbs. Some of the surviving Millionaires' Row mansions have now be repurposed as commercial office spaces, while a handful have been converted to museums showcasing the lives of the wealthy during the Gilded Age.

There was also another type of grand house: The houses of large slaveholders in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South. In both North and South, many of the grand houses are part of larger estates that can in many instances be visited.

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