Tangled Metal wrote:It's interesting how inheritance tax over the years have led to paper rich people being forced to hand over their house to the tax man / NT. A blessed relief being forced into that I reckon. I mean you can blame the previous generation for not making sufficient provision to prevent it. You get out from under the yoke of maintaining a listed money sink and can claim it's not your fault.
The question I have is what value is there in having the historical owners still living in these big, old houses? Some get to stay on on private apartments. Having the family member with its history in their blood can probably make a good tour guide.
I love the outdoors part of NT properties, such as the coastline, where the NT works hard to maintain them, and also the servants' quarters in big houses. That's where I reckon my place would have been! Kitchen gardens are also interesting, especially when you remember that households had to be fed all year from the food produced in them.
What I don't like is the 17th/18th/19th Century bling of big houses; a bit like those multi-millionaire pads owned by Russian oligarchs today.
I also question how appropriate it is for former owners to continue to live in houses "donated" to the NT, enjoying an enviable lifestyle, whilst all the costs are picked up by members. Particularly so where there is severe restriction on opening hours and parts of the houses open to the public. Antony House in S E Cornwall is a place in point.