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A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff, especially those of the turn of the 20th century (i.e., the late Victorian or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom and the Gilded Age in the United States). Examples include the English country house and the homes of various "millionaires' row" (or "millionaires' mile") in some U.S. cities such as Newport, Rhode Island. In Ireland, the term big house is usual for the houses of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy. By some reports, the summer homes of the wealthy at Newport averaged four servants per family member. There was often an elaborate hierarchy among staff, domestic workers in particular.
Contents
- Management
- Support household staff
- Junior household staff
- Grounds staff
- Support grounds staff
- Depictions of great houses
- References
It was considered déclassé to refer to one's own townhouses, estates or villas (or those of friends) as mansions and modern etiquette books still advise that the terms house, big house or great house be used instead.
As in the past, today's great houses are limited to heads of state, the very rich, or those who have inherited them; few in the developed world are staffed at the level of past centuries. The International Guild of Butlers estimates that the annual salaries of a 20-25 person household staff total in excess of US$1,000,000.
In countries with supplies of cheap domestic labour, the middle classes are still able to afford household help, but not approaching the numbers involved in the running of a great house.
Management
On large estates or in families with more than one residence, there may be a steward (or the modern equivalent, an estate manager) who oversees direction of the entire establishment. Today, it is not uncommon for a couple to split the duties of management between them.
The head of the household is not the butler, but the house manager. An estate manager manages more than one property, and usually has financial and managerial background.
Practices vary depending on the size of the household and the preference of the employers, but in general the staff is divided into departments run by the following staff:
Support household staff
Junior household staff
Grounds staff
An Estate Manager may have charge of the maintenance and care of the grounds, landscaping, and outbuildings (pool, cabana, stables, greenhouse etc.) which is divided into departments run by the:
Support grounds staff
Depictions of great houses
The complex hierarchy of a staff in a great house has been portrayed in several notable productions for film and television. Among these are: