Dine amid the splendour of one of Oxfordshire’s best-known country homes while hearing from a renowned writer on the English home about how it was transformed by American Nancy Lancaster.  The event starts with a walk through The Velvet Room, The Green Drawing Room, The Saloon, The Library, and The Churchill and Lake view terraces followed by a two-course lunch with wine in the Great Hall.

Over coffee, renowned writer Clive Aslet, former editor and now editor at large for Country Life, will talk about how Nancy Lancaster transformed Ditchley Park. Nancy bought Ditchley Park with her then husband Ronald Tree in 1933. They famously restored the mansion with great taste and Nancy went on to be recognised as one of England’s great interior designers.

Aslet has written extensively on English country homes and his latest work is An Exuberant Catalogue of Dreams: The Americans Who Revived the Country House in Britain. In it, he shows how wealthy Americans began purchasing English homes in the late 19th century, famously saving grand houses such as Cliveden, St Donat’s and Leeds Castle.

Sponsored by HSBC Premier.