What I Am Reading: "The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918-1939" by Adrian Tinniswood

This was a nice, relaxing read, almost less of a book than a series of vignettes. It seemed like a good read to end the summer and ease back into my “study” of the interwar period. I’ve had some enthusiasm for architectural history ever since taking Prof. Richard Longstreth’s classes on American architecture at GW, and this book was a nice excuse to read about a bunch of old, ruined houses in changing times.

The book overall seeks to chart how country houses changed, both individually and as a unit, during the years between the wars. The “thesis” is only a page long at the beginning. Each chapter, however, has a tight focus: the activities of the English gentry as relating to sporting, royalty, American marriages, homosexuality, and other topics, is explored through the prism of their inherited, purchased, or newly-built country houses. Obviously, the architecture and interior decoration of those houses is also covered, as is the evolving lives of their servants.

My interest in the architectural side of things (as measured in google image searches) comes alive the most when the topic turns to newly-built modernist houses, such as High and Over. Beyond ‘30s modernism, though, it is also architecturally interesting to cover renovations. In some instances the modernization of a house contrasts changing design choices to uncover changing social values: for instance, streamlining the kitchen-to-dining room journey of food, countermanding the Victorian preference not to be exposed to cooking smells.

There are of course many recurring characters in these vignettes, such as the ubiquitous and enigmatic Sir Philip Sassoon, aide to David Lloyd George and architectural patron. The golfer Viscount Castlerosse prays in a tricky moment, “Oh God, come down and help me with this shot. And don’t send Jesus. This is no job for a boy.” The gay Baron Berners dyes his animals various colors and suggests others do the same. This is described as one of the survival strategies that LBGT people adopted:

“Successful artists like Novello, Coward, and Beaton brought themselves small country houses and surrounded themselves with safe, like-minded friends. Long-lineaged landed gentry either led double lives like Sir Michael Duff – the hunting, shooting squire doling out plum puddings to the tenantry one moment, and the camp, cross-dressing Adonis the next – or hid behind a jokey, bemused façade like Berners. There weren’t many who managed to bring these worlds together.”

Excerpts from Country Life magazine are the backbone of the book, especially on the architectural side. A considerable amount of research must have gone into the subject, the author is naturally an academic. For broader themes: country houses were a return to normality after WW1, and were a living, breathing entity in the era, not just a relic. The era ended with abrupt change: many houses were requisitioned during WW2, and were often left in a state of disrepair, despite serving as something of a patriotic English symbol. As the gentry lost its sources of income and sold off parcels of land, the house was often given over to a public trust to preserve it (and preserve their right to live on it), especially after WW2. Overall, the milieu isn’t precisely my main historical passion, but any anglophile would find the subject enjoyable.