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National Trust Curator of Furniture Christopher Rowell helped compile this map of National Trust properties housing essential furniture collections. Pack your bags, bring along your Royal Oak member card and let this map guide you on a journey of furniture exploration! Embrace the full range of the furniture styles the National Trust preserves, often in its original setting.
We’ve pulled aside five properties in particular that furniture aficionados can’t miss on their next trip to England, Wales and Northern Ireland:
1. Castle Coole:
Castle Coole, Northern Ireland
One of the greatest neo-classical country houses in Ireland, built by the first Earl of Belmore 1789-97. The splendid furniture is from Preston’s of Dublin commissioned in 1807, in the lavish French Empire style.
2. Nostell Priory
Nostell Priory, Yorkshire
Formerly a monastery, the 18th-century treasure house boasts exquisite craftsmanship by Robert Adam, a world-class collection of Chippendale furniture and masterpieces by leading artists.
3. Hardwick Hall
Hardwick retains the textures of its original decoration –Persian table-carpets, painted wall-hangings, inlaid furniture and rows of original portraits.
4. Ham House
Ham House, Kingston-upon-Thames
A rare survival of 17th-century luxury and taste, this house is a result of a widely traveled couple, who employed craftsmen from across the continent and amassed exotic furniture from all over the world.
5. Powis Castle
Powis Castle, Wales
From defensive structure to party house, the house has been remodeled in the 16th, 18th and 20th centuries and includes generations of an internationally renowned collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture and tapestries.
The collections in these houses need your support! Consider giving to our National Trust Appeal for Furniture and help research and catalog these unique pieces, often maintained in their original home. Donate Now
