Location
Stately homes are always located in the countryside, and their owners generally owned palatial homes in London also, in proximity to the royal court and parliament. These London residences, known as townhouses, corresponding to the hôtel particulier of Paris, generally took for their name the title or family name of their owner, such as Devonshire House, Grosvenor House, Spencer House, Northumberland House etc. Stately homes may include parts of true fortified "castles", if the buildings have been extensively extended, as at Belvoir Castle and Warwick Castle. Castle Howard is a misnomer, not being a castle, but a palatial residence.
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