Books on English Country Life & Houses

Right now, my reading is all about research. I'm working on a new Regency set romance and I'm in need of some nitty-gritty info on the English country house.

As a result, this week on the floor next to my nightstand (because they are too heavy to be on my nightstand) are three books dealing with British country houses and historical architecture. If you love gorgeous things like ballrooms, well-laid dinning tables and gilded chairs, or if you've ever wondered what exactly all those rooms in the big manor houses were for, then check these out.

The English Country House: A Grand Tour by Gervase Jackson Stops and James Pipkin
This book is big on pictures and short on text. If you want to spend an hour or so flipping through beauty shots of houses, bedrooms and furniture and dreaming about how you want your future manor house to look, then this is the book for you.

Life in the English Country House by Mark Girouard
Tracing the country house from Medieval times through the 1940s, this book looks at the houses as they relate to the eras in which they were built. If you like reading about servants and Lords, or how changing tastes dictated styles, then this is the book for you.

The Elements of Style edited by Stephen Calloway
This one isn't for the faint of heart, or anyone with a bad back because it is HEAVY. It is also heavy on details, far more than you probably want to know, but at the moment, I need to know some of this stuff.

If anyone has any recommendations for more books like this, I would love to hear them. Have a great three day weekend!