www.stately-homes.com
The Stately Homes web site is where visitors can go to get more information on many of the United Kingdom's stately homes, castles, gardens and other historic homes/properties. Many of the properties listed on this web site are also listed with major organizations such as the English Heritage, the Historic Houses Association and others. These stately homes and properties are open to the public and can be toured, several are even available to host a special event or function.
To make searching easier, the stately properties listed on this web site are broken into various regional areas including London, East Anglia, Midlands - East, Midlands - West, North East, North West, Scotland, South East, Wales, and West Country. Each page of this website displays a search tool which enables the visitor to simply enter their name and the area in which they are interested in looking for a stately property. The sophisticated search tool even allows the visitor to indicate whether they are looking for someplace to host a special event and whether the property will also need to offer meals and accommodations for the event. The search will then return a listing of the properties which meet these requirements. This is a helpful feature as the web site includes descriptions on so many magnificent properties and it would take the visitor a long time to read through each of the descriptions.
Another nice feature is the inclusion of a calendar of special events that will be taking place in the upcoming months at these stately homes, gardens, castles and/or historic properties. Several hundred events are listed and these stately events can also be searched by region to make the search for a special event an easier task.
The text from the current issue of the Stately Update, the web site's quarterly newsletter, is available for viewing on this web site. The page also offers a way for visitors to sign up to receive this newsletter via email. Those interested can even request that previous issues also be emailed to them. Also available for sale on this web site is a book titled, Stately Secrets. The description for the book indicates that it is full of first-hand stories about what actually goes on behind the closed doors of these stately properties. It sounds intriguing as well as entertaining.
This web site includes a section where those who have actually visited one of the stately properties are encouraged to write up and post a review based on that visit. The visitor to this web site can also find contact information, a letter from the editor, and a substantial number of links to other web sites. Unlike other web sites, however, the links are grouped together into different categories that the editors have decided would be of most interested to their visitors. The visitor can find categorized groups of links for topics such as London Sightseeing Tours, Ireland Holidays, Planning a Wedding, Gardening and more.
Overall the Stately Homes web site is chock full of interesting information on some very impressive properties located throughout the United Kingdom. There also are many beautiful images of the highlighted properties. Best of all, this web site is nicely organized making it very easy to maneuver.