The Country House Podcast21 Okt 2025

Fairfax House: The finest Georgian townhouse in England? | Ep. 95

What happens when the last in a line of viscounts has only one child - a daughter - but the family's ancestral seat is entailed to the male line (meaning it'll go to a distant cousin)? This was the dilemma facing Charles, 9th Viscount Fairfax, in the mid-18th century...

The answer (for Lord Fairfax, at least) was to purchase a prime site in the centre of the ancient cathedral city of York, and to commission the best architect in Yorkshire - the famous John Carr of York - to design an exquisite Georgian townhouse for Lord Fairfax's daughter, Ann.

On this week's podcast episode - the third instalment in our series looking at the houses shortlisted for this year's Historic Houses Association Collections Award (sponsored by Dreweatts) - Geoff meets with Sarah Burnage, Curator of Fairfax House, which is now open to the public and houses and exceptional collection of Georgian furniture, clocks, glass and porcelain.

Please join us for a fascinating glimpse of what high-life city living in the 18th century was like!

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Episoder(121)

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5 Mar 51min

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20 Feb 41min

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9 Feb 1h 1min

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23 Jan 43min

Big Ben: At the stroke of midnight... | An Architectural Icon | Ep. 102

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4 Jan 50min