Lady Caroline Percy on Syon Park, London

Syon is one of the last great historic houses of London and holds a wealth of art within its spectacular neo classical interiors, decorated by Robert Adam. The park and gardens, designed by Capability Brown, feel like deep countryside, while barely 9 miles from Charing Cross.

Syon is the London home of the Dukes of Northumberland and has been in the Percy family for almost 350 years. The house was built on the site of a former Abbey and, since its medieval origins, has played a significant role in English history over the centuries.

The interiors and park are open to the public and are available for filming, weddings and events.

Sarah Callander Beckett on Combermere Abbey, Cheshire

Established in 1133 as a Cistercian monastery, Combermere Abbey has a fascinating and complex 890-year-old history. Since the Dissolution in 1538, it has only been owned by two families: the Combermeres and the Crossleys. In 1820, the early Tudor residence was dramatically altered to reflect the then-popular Gothic style, with the landscape designer William Eames significantly changing the park. After a severe decline in the Combermere family's fortunes, the abbey was sold to Sir Kenneth Crossley — the current owner's great-grandfather. On inheriting the estate in 1992, Sarah Callander Beckett embarked on a 30-year restoration programme, saving the building from decay and transforming it into a thriving hospitality and events venue.

The Hon James and Lady Cara Willoughby on Birdsall House, North Yorkshire

Birdsall House has been the home of the Willoughby family since 1729. The first Birdsall House was built circa 1540 and was redeveloped into the existing Georgian style in the 18th and 19th centuries. The original Tudor house was converted into a much grander Georgian style house, with a new wing added in 1775 which gave the family new State Rooms; the Oval Room and the Ballroom. The Willoughby family originally came from Nottinghamshire and built Wollaton Hall where they lived for 450 years until it was sold after World War I.

The family currently offers an ever-increasing range of activities and opportunities at the Estate for visitors to enjoy.

Lady Caroline Percy

Caroline has always been interested in the decorative arts and, as a teenager in 1960s London, she was involved in the fashion world. She then spent two years in Florence, where she worked for Emilio Pucci. This was Followed by a year in Paris, then marriage, which led to a decade spent living between Andalucía and Syon.

Caroline moved back to the UK to live at Syon in the mid-1980s and started collaborating with an antique dealer in Seville, sourcing English antiques and works of art. This evolved into interior design and she set up Hotspur Design. In 2016, Historic Decoration was founded with an architectural historian, Oliver Gerrish. They offer talks, tours to historic houses and consultancy on period interiors.

The Hon James and Lady Cara Willoughby

James and Cara Willoughby moved into Birdsall House in 2017, taking over from James’s grandparents.

James worked as a Barrister before coming back to the estate full time. Cara was a graphic designer and milliner in London before moving to Yorkshire.

Birdsall House had been principally a private residence, with James and Cara opening it up for commercial ventures, hosting and planning weddings and celebratory events along with running an annual mountain bike marathon, classical concerts, filming and photo shoots.

They live in the house with their three children.

Robert Parker on Browsholme Hall, Lancashire

Built in 1507 by the Parker family, Browsholme Hall is the oldest surviving family home in Lancashire. Robert Parker inherited the property unexpectedly from a distant cousin in 1975 in a neglected condition. Although open to visitors since 1958, it was not until 2010 that a Grade II listed barn was restored as a venue for tourism, private functions and community events that created the financial foundation to support the Hall, gardens and parkland.

Lady Proby on Elton Hall, Cambridgeshire

Elton Hall is an extraordinary, romantic, part-Gothic historic house nestled in the beautiful countryside on the Cambridgeshire/Northamptonshire border, that has been in the Proby family for 400 years. Sir William and Lady Proby moved to Elton Hall in 1980 and since then Lady Proby has been involved in restoring the house and opening it to the public.

James and Claire Birch on Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire

Situated in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside, Doddington Hall was built by Robert Smythson, one of England’s foremost Elizabethan architects. Continuing 400 years of unbroken family occupation, Claire Birch and her husband James took over the management of Doddington Hall in 2006, and have started a number of commercial ventures including an award-winning farm shop and café, to fund the continued improvement and restoration of the Hall.

The Earl of Devon on Powderham Castle, Devon

The Hon Henry and Martha Lytton Cobbold on Knebworth House, Hertfordshire

Viscountess Grimston on Gorhambury, Hertfordshire