Message #828

[Michelle Jahn]

The "country house," as it is known in Spanish-speaking places, is a distinct variety of mansion.

In the past, it was fashionable for the elite society of Europe to pursue the social circuit from country home to country home, with intervals at town homes, so unfortified country houses supplanted castles and the modern mansion began to evolve.

It was in the 16th century that mansions really began to be built in a completely unfortified and gracious style[citation needed], with gardens, parks, and drives. This was the era of Renaissance architecture. Hatfield House is a superb example of a house built during the transition period in England[citation needed]. In Italy, classic villas such as Villa Farnese and Villa Giulia were typical[citation needed], albeit individually diverse forms, of the new style of mansion.

The uses of these edifices paralleled that of the Roman villas. It was vital for powerful people and families to keep in social contact with each other as they were the primary moulders of society. The rounds of visits and entertainments were an essential part of the societal process, as painted in the novels of Jane Austen. State business was often discussed and determined in informal settings. Times of revolution reversed this value. During its revolution, France lost a large part of its country homes to incendiary committees, who destroyed the estates as a reaction to/rejection of the ancient régimes.