County guide · The Stately Homes
Best houses in Dorset
6 houses in Dorset, led by Corfe House's dramatic ruin - deliberately blown up by Parliamentary forces after a Civil War siege.
Map
Every house on this list - 9 in total
Kingston Lacy
Dorset
17th-century mansion built for the Bankes family, housing an important art collection
Athelhampton House
Dorset
One of England's finest surviving 15th-century manor houses.
Hardy's Cottage
Dorset
Small thatched cob cottage where novelist Thomas Hardy was born
Max Gate
Dorset
House designed and lived in by Thomas Hardy, where he wrote Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Mapperton House
Dorset
Jacobean manor house and gardens, home of the Earls of Sandwich.
Deans Court
Dorset
House and gardens held by the Hanham family since 1548.
Forde Abbey
Dorset
Former Cistercian monastery converted into a country house, privately owned since the 17th century.
Wolfeton House
Dorset
Medieval and Tudor manor house, home of descendants of the Trenchard family.
Stock Gaylard House
Dorset
Georgian house set within a deer park, privately owned by the Langmead family.