Wollaton Hall

Buildings like Wollaton Hall remind us to put aside our preconceptions of what period houses should look like. A Tudor house built in sharp, golden stone, bristling with ornamentation, it rises over the city of Nottingham which now envelops the estate.

We were called there by James Willoughby, the current generation of the family that gave the house as a gift to the State 99 years ago. He wanted to see what significance we could find in a building that still feels dear to him, and the house delivered in spades. The many pilasters, bartizans, reliefs, and ceilings are heavy with symbolic meaning just waiting to be decoded again. The house rightfully has a place as one of the great English prodigy houses.

Special thanks to Graham Armitage for an access-all-areas special tour.

And in what might start to become a regular occurrence, we were snapped by paparazzi while on the roof.