Compton Verney is one of those country houses and landscapes that could so easily have vanished, or become a hotel and golf course. It had been a military establishment during the Second World War. It had not been inhabited for 50 years. Its ceiling were collapsing, its roofs were rotting. New homes had started to be built in its grounds. An earlier opera house project had come to nothing. It was officially a "building at risk". But being where it is in the Midlands - close to Birmingham, Stratford, Warwick and Banbury - it has a huge population very close. The Compton Verney Trust is assuming 100,000 visitors a year, and is already booked-out with schools parties. It will cost more than £1m a year to run, and will get no public subsidy. It is all - remember this - the work of one wealthy man. How often does that happen these days? Sir Peter Moores should wear a high powdered wig. He is an authentic 18th century figure, right down to his receptiveness to contemporary art and architecture.

http://www.stantonwilliams.com - the modern draughtsmen.
http://www.comptonverney.co.uk - about the house and its collections.