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32-570: The Ancient High House is an Elizabethan town house located on the main street in Stafford . The house was constructed in 1595 by the Dorrington family, from local oak , which anecdotally came from the nearby Doxey Wood, and is the largest timber framed town house in England . Many of the original timbers bear carpenter's marks indicating that the frame was pre-assembled on the ground and

64-838: A large living space, often with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city. Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in New York City , Chicago , Boston , Philadelphia , Montreal , Washington, D.C. , and San Francisco . Rowhouses are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units originally found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as Baltimore , Philadelphia, Richmond, Virginia , Charleston, South Carolina , Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans , but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A rowhouse

96-733: A member of the Sneed family of Keele Hall , near Newcastle-under-Lyme, was renting the building. Charles I visited Stafford and stayed at the Ancient High House on 17 and 18 September 1643, not long after raising the Royal Standard at Nottingham, the feudal signal to call his loyal subjects to arms - this act was seen as the start of the English Civil War. Having made the High House his temporary headquarters,

128-462: A record in Asia, and The Beverly Hills , which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as 11,000 square feet (1,000 m ). Commonly in the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and replaced by a short row of townhouses, built 'end on' to the street for added privacy. Season (society) The social season , or season , refers to

160-618: A townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the social season (when major balls took place). In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are terraced . Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached, but even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example,

192-579: Is here that guests, including King Charles I and Prince Rupert, would have been entertained. Today a tableau represents the scene during the visit of the King who stayed as a guest of Captain Richard Sneed. The King was accompanied by his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine (and his Standard Poodle called 'Boy'), who was already an accomplished military commander. The structure was weakened by renovations to

224-668: Is known to encompass various prestigious events that take place during the spring and summer. According to The Sloaney magazine's online guide "Sloaney Season", it starts with Cheltenham Festival (March), and includes the Grand National (April), The Boat Race (April), Badminton Horse Trials (May), Chelsea Flower Show (May), Epsom Derby (June), Royal Ascot (June), Test matches at Lord's (July), Wimbledon (July), Henley Royal Regatta (July), Edinburgh International Festival (August) and others, ending with Goodwood Revival (September). The London social season evolved in

256-449: Is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, and a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will generally be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse. The name townhouse or townhome was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. Today,

288-568: The Duke of Norfolk owned Arundel Castle in the country, while his London house, Norfolk House , was a terraced house in St James's Square over 100 feet (30 m) wide. In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors (sometimes six or more), it has

320-828: The First World War , when many aristocratic families gave up their London mansions. From then on, more society events took place at public venues, making it harder to maintain social exclusivity. The opulent coming-out party held for the 17 year-old Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill on 7 July 1939 at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, less than two months before World War Two was declared, has been styled by some as "the last season ever". Socialite Henry (Chips) Channon noted in his diary: "I have seen much, travelled far and am accustomed to splendour, but there has never been anything like tonight". Many events that take place far from central London (though generally within

352-663: The Home Counties ) came to be regarded as part of the social season, including Royal Ascot and the Henley Royal Regatta . The events that now constitute the London social season are increasingly hosted or sponsored by large companies (i.e. "corporate hospitality"). Western dress codes still apply to certain events in the season, especially those in which the King maintains an official role. Although several of these events are not actually held in London, such as

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384-618: The Hurlingham Polo Association at Guards Polo Club , the organisers of most events attempt to avoid date clashes, so it is generally possible to visit all of them in the same year. The traditional end of the London Season is the Glorious Twelfth of August, which marks the beginning of the shooting season. Society would retire to the country to shoot birds during the autumn and hunt foxes during

416-477: The 17th and 18th centuries, and in its traditional form it peaked in the 19th century. In this era the British elite was dominated by families of the nobility and landed gentry , who generally regarded their country house as their main home, but spent several months of the year in the capital to socialise and to engage in politics . The most exclusive events were held at the town mansions of leading members of

448-527: The High house was going to have to be demolished due to the amount of work that was needed. It was then that the townsfolk got together and a group was formed to raise funds to "save the Ancient High House". At weekends people would have stalls selling souvenirs and encouraging people to donate. Local band "the Climax Blues Band" held an event at a local night club and raised a substantial amount towards

480-469: The King talked to his advisers and dictated letters and military orders for the forthcoming campaign (some of these have been preserved in the nearby William Salt Library). While in Stafford the King attended St Mary's Collegiate Church , an account being made by a local woman for the strewing of flowers along his route to the church. There is a story that while walking in the garden of the High House with

512-495: The King, Prince Rupert fired two shots through the tail of the weather vane of St Mary's in order to demonstrate the accuracy of a continental Horse Pistol. The weather vane was removed several centuries ago, and so the story cannot be verified, although the pistol Prince Rupert is said to have fired was far more accurate than most of the weapons then in use. In May 1643, the King's enemies, the Parliamentarians, captured

544-647: The Stafford Borough Council and entry is free of charge. The Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum is housed in the attic floor, and features uniforms and artefacts of the Staffordshire Yeomanry . The Ancient High House adjoins 'Shaw's House' and the 'Swan', both of which have Elizabethan origins, while close by may be found St Chad's Church and the Collegiate Church of St Mary's, Stafford. Town house Historically,

576-437: The aristocracy. Exclusive public venues such as Almack's played a secondary role. The Season coincided with the sitting of parliament ; it began some time after Christmas and ran until midsummer , roughly late June. Some sources say it began at Parliament's Easter session break. The social season played a role in the political life of the country: the members of the two Houses of Parliament were almost all participants in

608-473: The cause. There was talk of a "Blue Plaque" to commemorate the band's efforts, sadly this never transpired. The Ancient High House is now largely a historic house museum with a collection of period room furnishings and displays, including the English Civil War , Edwardian and Victorian eras. Three galleries feature changing art, photography and history exhibitions. The museum is operated by

640-428: The ground floor in the 19th century. This work included the knocking-through of a stone fireplace to create a corridor and the removal of one of the corner posts, which lead to a splaying of the overhanging upper storeys. A second chimney was demolished to create more space, this taking place following the advent of electricity when the rooms were presumably kept warm in winter by portable heaters. There were rumours that

672-581: The houses on the property are owned by the individual owners. In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as Hong Kong , townhouses in private housing developments remain almost exclusively populated by the very wealthy due to the rarity and relatively large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a 5,067-square-foot (470.7 m ) townhouse sold for HK$ 285 million (US$ 37 million) in 2008, or HK$ 57,000 (US$ 7,400) per square foot,

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704-404: The joints numbered to aid the on-site construction. Some timbers have additional joint housings cut into them, which would suggest that they have been reused from an even earlier structure. It was not unheard of for a building to be dismantled and rebuilt at a different location - hence the expression to 'up-sticks', which means to move house. At the time of the outbreak of the English Civil War ,

736-429: The practice was abolished by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958 - reportedly at Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 's insistence. Queen Charlotte's Ball ceased to function in 1976, but has been relaunched since, by former debutante Jennie Hallam-Peel , without the monarch's involvement, and with more limited uptake; debutantes instead curtsy to "Queen Charlotte's Birthday Cake". The traditional Season went into decline after

768-632: The season, as all Peers sitting in the House of Lords were by definition nobility, and many if not most Members of the House of Commons were gentry. But the Season also provided an opportunity for the children of marriageable age of the nobility and gentry to be launched into society. Debutantes were formally introduced into society by presentation to the monarch at royal court during the Court Drawing Rooms and Queen Charlotte's Ball until

800-748: The street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as rowhouses . A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is typically called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex. In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, apartments, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership: Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are often referred to as condos , thus referring to

832-435: The term townhouse is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex. The distinction between living units called apartments and those called townhouses is that townhouses usually consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior corridor hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway (more common in

864-468: The town and in the following January, the newly established Committee of Stafford ordered: that the High House of Mr Dorringtons in tenure of Mr Lees shall be forthwith assigned to Mr Roberts the Provost Marshal to habite in for the securing of the better sort of prisoners... These prisoners were Royalists . The main room of the house would have been the central room on the first floor, and it

896-414: The traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls , dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War , it was also the appropriate time to reside in the city (generally meaning London ) rather than in the country in order to attend such events. In modern times in the United Kingdom, "the Season"

928-518: The type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment-style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a condo , many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos. All types of dwellings can be condos, and this is therefore true of townhouses. A brownstone townhouse is a particular variety found in New York. In Asia, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe,

960-492: The usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are generally found in complexes. Large complexes often have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, parks and playground equipment. Typically, a townhouse has a strata title ; i.e., a type of title where the common property (landscaped area, public corridors, building structure, etc.) is owned by a corporation of individual owners and

992-487: The warmer climates). Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the very largest cities, apartment refers to rental housing, and townhouse typically refers to an individually owned dwelling, with no other unit beneath or above although the term townhouse-style (rental) apartment is also heard for bi-level apartments. Townhouses can also be "stacked". Such homes have multiple units vertically (typically two), normally each with its own private entrance from

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1024-420: The winter before coming back to London again with the spring. For some time there was also the " Harrogate Season", where members of the upper classes would stop at Harrogate Spa to take in the waters on their way from London up to their shooting estates in the north. Many events of the season have traditional expectations with regard to Western dress codes . London is the capital of shops and of speculation,

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