These two magnificent houses were rebuilt c. 1725-50; both are Palladian in style and both have sumptuous interiors with much original furniture, textiles and tapestries. Houghton was built by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and Holkham by Thomas Coke, later Earl of Leicester. Both houses were designed by several architects, with the designer William Kent playing a large part in the decoration of both houses. These two houses are still privately owned by the families who built them, are open to the public, and make rewarding visits.

Caroline Knight is an architectural historian, trained at the Courtauld and specialising in 16th to 18th century English and Scottish architecture. She is a lecturer at the V&A on year courses and short courses, and lecturer for the Art Fund, and for the Royal Oak Foundation in the US. She researched and wrote a history of Kensington Palace. She contributed to a book on the Cecil family, and has written several articles on architectural and social history and the history of travel. She wrote London's Country Houses (2009) and contributed a chapter to a history of the Royal Academy (Yale, forthcoming).