Historic Houses Association
Historic Houses (formerly, and still for legal purposes, known as The Historic Houses Association or HHA) is a not-for-profit organisation that represents more than 1,650 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK. The association was established in 1973 to help owners maintain and conserve significant homes in the interests of the nation's heritage. It carries out important lobbying, advisory and marketing work on behalf of member properties and runs an access scheme for the general public. These are listed buildings or registered gardens, usually Grade I or II* and often rated as outstanding.
Around 500 of these properties open their doors to visitors for days out, special tours, school visits, film locations, weddings and events, or as memorable places to stay, attracting between them 14 million visitors each year. Others open by appointment or for special visits, weddings or corporate events. There are more privately owned historic houses open to the public than those in the care of the National Trust, English Heritage and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland put together. Historic Houses works for the future of these houses, the heritage they conserve and the businesses, families and employees they support by lobbying at national, regional and local level. It provides technical and specialist advice and guidance, seminars, networks and information for its member houses.[1]
Historic Houses offers a membership to the public, allowing card-holders free entry to around 320 of the association's member properties that open to the public as visitor attractions. Members also receive have access to tours of hundreds more houses which are not normally open. The association publishes a quarterly magazine, "Historic House."
Some well-known member houses of Historic Houses
There are three hundred houses to which members of "The Friends of the Historic Houses Association" are entitled to free entry, including:
Other examples of Historic Houses member properties
There are HHA member houses located all over the country. Here are some other examples: