Jeremy Musson becomes Chairman
Jeremy Musson © Nick Rutter
Norman Hudson, a founding trustee of the HHF in 2005, and its Chair since 2010, retired as Chair in February 2025. His successor, architectural historian and author, Jeremy Musson, brings new energy and a new focus to the organisation.
As the new HHF Chair, Jeremy Musson brings an extensive knowledge of the country house to the role. Adviser to the Victorian Society in the early 1990s, then a junior curator for the National Trust in East Anglia, he moved to Country Life in 1995, becoming its architectural editor in 1998. Since going freelance in 2007, he has worked as a heritage consultant on conservation management plans for some of the most important buildings in the country including St Paul’s Cathedral and Hardwick Hall; often working with leading conservation architects such as Oliver Caroe and Nick Cox. Jeremy is also an author and broadcaster with 20 book titles and two BBC 2 television series – the Curious House Guest - to his name. He has an academic aspect to his career, as he is a regular lecturer and supervisor on the Building History Master’s at Cambridge University and also on the New York University (London programme) Master’s in Historical and Sustainable Architecture and is a regular contributor to conference and panel discussions. He also tutors the Lethaby & Plunket scholars for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Born in London in 1965, but raised in West Surrey, his love of country houses first began, not with enforced trips with his parents, as is so often the case, but exploring Yorkshire houses with a school friend one summer. An interest in architecture was fostered both at Winchester College and during a course of study in Rome in 1984, before a law degree at University College, London and a Master’s in Renaissance History at the Warburg Institute. He says: “My special interest in country houses really came with my work with Country Life”. Jeremy is married with two grown up children and has lived in Cambridge for over thirty years: “I am lucky to live in a city crammed with historic architecture which is a daily joy to me”. He continues to be a regular contributor to Country Life and observes that his work for the magazine has given him an extraordinary degree of exposure to the country houses of Britain, as have various board roles, including serving as a trustee of the Stowe House Preservation Trust.
Jeremy is conscious of the great debt owed to Norman Hudson, HHF Chairman for the past fifteen years, who continues as a trustee: ‘Norman’s incredible knowledge of country houses, his experience of the practical aspects of management and his role in promoting opening to the public leaves an inspiring legacy’. Jeremy also celebrates the talents of the HHF board of trustees more widely, who bring a deep experience and expertise to bear on the applications that come before them. Rigour in decision making is especially important, since there are many more applicants than can be helped each quarter. A delegation of trustees visits each site and brings back direct experience of the buildings and the issues at stake.
For Jeremy, part of the appeal of the Foundation is that it is focusses above all on the significance of buildings in their own right, not only great and middling country houses but also the often forgotten ancillary buildings, garden temples, gasworks and icehouses. One of the strengths of the HHF is its ability to help all applicants whatever their style of ownership. Jeremy also observes how ‘we are brilliantly supported by David Price, the HHF’s tireless Secretary, who handles the applications and provides us trustees with detailed preparatory information’.
Looking to the future, Jeremy has no plans to change the successful formula of the Historic Houses Foundation. He is especially proud of the way it provides a catalyst for funding, helping other funding bodies - sometimes with much deeper pockets - to have faith in a particular restoration project. A Historic Houses Foundation grant can sometimes be the deciding factor between a project going ahead, being delayed or even being shelved entirely. He has seen how the trustees can often help an applicant focus on the crucial repairs that will ensure the economic future of any project, as he says: “It is important for us to see that any project we fund will not be the end of the story”.
Jeremy points out that the HHF has also supported a number of local authorities which were struggling to maintain historic house museums in their care He mentions the successful re-launch of local authority properties like Boston Manor House in Hounslow and Ordsall Hall in Salford, which have received a contribution from the HHF, marking a new beginning for the communities who live around them. The restoration of these places is an important route for local people to appreciate and take pride in historic buildings in their own area.
Jeremy feels that the HHF’s recent successful funding drive, supported by match-funding by a generous donor, suggests a pattern for engagement with future fundraisers to expand the charity’s independent endowment and activities. Fundraising is still ongoing, and Jeremy wants to see the Historic Houses Foundation have a positive and encouraging influence on the confidence of this hard-pressed sector: “This is a critical period for the heritage of this country. There is obvious anxiety about the 2024 October budget on historic house businesses and independent charitable trusts”. The range of the HHF’s interests, which includes a small fund for the restoration for works of art in country houses open to the public, as well as the main fund for repairing and conserving historic buildings, is another vital strength - “We want always to be open to what comes up and be flexible in our thinking.”
Jeremy is conscious of the pressures brought by climate change as well. With more dramatic weather events, it is important for the HHF to be able to react to urgent issues. Damage from flooding, for example, cannot be ignored for a protracted period while funding applications grind along. As he says: “As a fund renowned for nimbleness, we can respond very quickly in an emergency.”
Summing up his career so far, Jeremy feels a deep sense of privilege at having been exposed to such a variety of country houses, and the histories, families and people associated with them and appreciates the passion that so many bring to what they do – ‘everywhere you go there are inspiring and unexpected stories, of endurance and of imagination’. This new chapter in the HHF story gives him a chance to use his skills as a writer and communicator to promote the success of the projects supported by the Historic Houses Foundation: “I want to showcase the stories of success and celebrate the positive stories of the projects that we support.” Overall, he is proud to share in the celebration of beauty enjoyed by every visitor to historic houses, parks and gardens, through exposure to creativity, craft, quality and imagination. Public appreciation and enjoyment of the heritage is a vital feature of the HHF work: “I hope that the Historic Houses Foundation can be a bridge into generating public appreciation and enjoyment of the central role country houses and their surroundings plays in our cultural scene.”