By Linda Tancs

A prodigy house is a large, showy, late-Elizabethan or Jacobean English country house built by a courtier and other wealthy families. One of England’s grandest surviving examples of such a place is Burghley House in Stamford. It was conceived by William Cecil (the first Lord Burghley), Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most powerful courtiers of the first Elizabethan age. Direct descendants lived in the house for over 500 years, and it’s still very much a family home, with a direct descendant overseeing the charitable trust that governs operations at the estate. Among its many treasures, the house boasts one of the finest private collections of Italian Old Master paintings, and its gardens and parkland were largely designed by Lancelot “Capability’ Brown” in the 18th century. Enjoy a guided or self-guided tour of 18 sumptuous state rooms.

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