Purpose
These houses were status symbols for the great families of England, generally headed by great statesmen, who competed with each other to provide suitably grand settings in which to entertain members of the royal family. They were also the settings where affairs of state and party political matters were discussed informally among the ruling elite. They are termed the "seat" of their owner if he bears a title of nobility, the implication being the seat of a political powerbase, as was the true seat on the benches in the House of Lords where he had a right to sit and help determine the political destiny of the nation.
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