Grand houses
Photo: Han Zheng, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Grand houses are buildings created to house either the nobility and royalty, or in later eras, those that had made their fortune by various means. Whilst some grand houses are or were palaces, other châteaux, stately homes, manor houses, Schloss and Residenz can be considered as grand houses. Some are or have been owned by monarchies, or used for government functions and police and military ceremonies.
UnderstandA palace is a grand residence, usually for a head of state. The word comes from the French word palais, which implies that the building is in a city.
AsiaDuring the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the architecture of residences in China was strictly regulated by law.
EuropeFinland was made a republic on independence, and the Finnish nobility in Swedish and Russian times was rather poor, so the mansions are not as spectacular as in Central Europe or even Sweden.
North AmericaIn the United States, there is no nobility, but there has been a kind of quasi-nobility that has encompassed old landowning families like the Roosevelts, the robber barons of yesteryear like the Astor, Vanderbilt and…
Oceania
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Grand houses" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Han Zheng, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons