The twentieth century house in Britain: from the archives of Country life

Abstract

Since its foundation in 1897, Country Life has consistently featured new British houses, thus building up an unrivalled photographic archive on twentieth-century architecture, and one that covers a much wider variety of houses than any other. This archive forms the basis for Alan Powers' new study of twentieth-century houses, illustrated with 200 stunning colour and duotone photographs, some of which are reproduced here for the first time. The book is divided into chronological chapters covering the 1920s to the 1990s, preceded by an enlightening introductory essay on the changing nature of architectural style over the course of the century. Both town and country houses are included, as well as remodellings of earlier buildings where the result has a clear twentieth-century character, such as London's glorious Eltham Palace.