The next day was actually forecasted for rain (as opposed to the days where it was supposed to be sunny and still rained), so we figured it was a good day to head to one of the stately homes. We ended up at Lanhydrock (along with pretty much everyone else in the area, but I digress).
We joined the Royal Oak Society, which is an American organization aligned with the National Trust. It basically gave us an year’s membership. In this case, it’s mostly stately homes (ones that are in repair rather than ruined), but they also have a lot of beaches and other natural sites, where you can get free parking with the membership. (Which we did not do, because the weather wasn’t so good.)
But back to the house: it dates back to Jacobean times, but because of a fire, it was refitted in Victorian times. The nursery was really neat, and you get to walk through the servant areas – the kitchen was really cool. So many rooms! (There was quite a bit about the family was well, which was pretty sad, as they died out, mostly due to WWI.)
We actually walked through the gardens first, as the rain had stopped for a bit. There are pretty extensive grounds, and some really pretty gardens. I wish I could have been there when it was sunnier and walked around a little more, but what we did see was pretty cool.