Large and stately residence
Wentworth Woodhouse
in
Yorkshire
is the largest great house in the United Kingdom.
[1]
Longleat House
in
Wiltshire
, the seat of the
Marquesses of Bath
Rose Hall
, a great house in Jamaica
A
great house
is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great
retinues
of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late
Victorian
or
Edwardian era
in the United Kingdom and the
Gilded Age
in the United States.
Definition
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]
There is no precise definition of "great house", and the understanding varies among countries. In England, while most villages would have had a
manor house
since
time immemorial
, originally home of the
lord of the manor
and sometimes referred to as "the big house", not all would have anything as lavish as a traditional
English country house
, one of the traditional markers of an established "county" family that derived at least a part of its income from
landed property
.
Stately homes
, even rarer and more expensive, were associated with the
peerage
, not the
gentry
. Many mansions were
demolished in the 20th century
, since families that had previously split their time between their country house and their
town house
found the maintenance of both too expensive. Many properties are now open to the public as
historic house museums
, either run by their ancestral owners on a commercial basis, or having been given to
English Heritage
or similar organisations. Others operate as hotels and wedding venues. Some still serve as the
family seat
.
In Ireland, the term
big house
is usual for the houses of the
Anglo-Irish
ascendancy
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
In the United States, great houses can be found on streets known informally as "
millionaires' mile
" (or "row") in certain cities.
In Jamaica, "great house" is the standard term for the house at the centre of plantation life,
[5]
what in the United States is called a
plantation house
.
One commonality between countries is that the family occupying the great house were outnumbered, often greatly so, by their staff. There was often an elaborate hierarchy among
domestic workers
, probably most familiar to people today through television dramas such as
Downton Abbey
.
As in the past, today's great houses are limited to
heads of state
, the very rich, or those who have inherited them; few in the developed world are staffed at the level of past centuries. Nowadays, the
International Guild of Butlers
estimates that the annual salaries of a 20?25 person household staff total in excess of US$1,000,000.
Management
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On large estates or in families with more than one residence, there may be a steward (or the modern equivalent, an estate manager) who oversees direction of the entire establishment. Today, it is not uncommon for a couple to split the duties of management between them.
The head of the household is not the butler, but the house manager. An estate manager administers more than one property, and usually has financial and managerial background.
Practices vary depending on the size of the household and the preference of the employers, but in general the staff is divided into departments run by the following staff:
[3]
[4]
Title
|
Description
|
Butler
|
The head of household staff in most homes; in charge of the pantry, wine cellar and dining room. In a small house the butler also
valets
for the
master of the house
. Male staff report to him. The butler is often engaged by the master of the house but usually reports to the
lady
of the house or sometimes to the housekeeper.
[3]
[4]
|
Cook
|
In charge of the kitchen and kitchen staff. Sometimes a
chef
is employed with several
subordinate cooks
. The cook usually reports directly to the lady of the house but sometimes to the housekeeper. If the cook is a woman, she is always
addressed as "Mrs"
, regardless of her marital status.
[3]
[4]
|
Housekeeper
|
Responsible for the house and its appearance; in charge of all female servants, but can sometimes be the lead servant in a household. The housekeeper is always addressed as "Mrs", regardless of her marital status.
[3]
[4]
|
Support household staff
[
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]
Sources:
[3]
[4]
For the master of the house:
- Valet
(Gentleman's gentleman)
For the lady of the house:
For the children:
For needs of the household:
Junior household staff
[
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]
Sources:
[3]
[4]
Grounds staff
[
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]
A
property manager
may have charge of the maintenance and care of the grounds, landscaping, and outbuildings (pool, cabana, stables, greenhouse etc.) which is divided into departments run by the:
Title
|
Description
|
Head gardener
|
Responsible for the grounds around the house; in charge of any additional gardeners or seasonal men and women brought in at times of harvest or planting.
|
Stable master
|
Various titles used for the individual responsible for the keeping of animals, particularly those used for recreational pursuits such as
horseback riding
,
fox hunting
or
dog fancy
.
|
Gamekeeper
|
Support grounds staff
[
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]
Notable great houses
[
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]
Depictions of great houses
[
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]
The complex hierarchy of a staff in a great house has been portrayed in several notable productions for film and television. Among these are:
See also
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Notes
[
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]
- ^
Guinness Book of Records, 1966, p.175
- ^
Pakenham, Valerie (2001).
The Big House in Ireland
. Photographs by
Thomas Pakenham
. Cassell.
ISBN
0-304-35422-8
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Evangeline Holland (March 2012).
"Domestic Servants in Edwardian England"
. Retrieved
2013-01-30
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Bricks & Brass.
"Staff Roles"
. Retrieved
2013-01-30
.
- ^
"Greathouses (Plantation houses)"
.
Jamaica National Heritage Trust
. Retrieved
18 October
2017
.
The Great House was the seat of authority on an estate. It was the home of planters, or attorneys who acted for the absentee owner. The size and profitability of the property and the wealth of the owner determined the size of the house. These houses were usually two storey buildings with a base of brick, cut stone and mortar. The top floor was usually made of wood. Variations of this archetype included one-storey buildings constructed of wood, cut stone or Spanish walling or wattle and daub; or two-storey building made of brick, wood or cut stone.
External links
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