Christie’s Luxury Defined – Summertime Escapes: 5 Grand Countryside Homes

The British have a term of art for the big rural house with aspirations to meet, even to exceed the grandeur and high style of its era. Thus, it was dubbed the “country pile” (with, perhaps, an aristocratic twist of the monocle). 

It was English noblemen and courtiers who invented the Prodigy House, a huge residence built almost solely to impress—and escape in the dreamlike solitude of wood and dale.  

Time itself has subdued the airs and graces of the country pile. The centuries weathered the piled stone and matured the landscaping that softens its edges. Artisanal craftsmanship and architectural details remain, preserved and enhanced, while infrastructure, “mod cons” and creature comforts are updated to contemporary standards.  

And that country pile almost always comes with lots and lots of land—an enduring asset. 

Castles in the air, perhaps? Here’s the chance to live in one.