A bricklayer’s son, John Soane apprenticed with Henry Holland and George Dance the Younger before getting his big break: a £180 travel scholarship for a bridge design he exhibited at the Royal Academy. The trip to Italy served Soane well, exposing him to new architecture and potential clients. In 1783, the prime minister’s brother, architectural dilettante Lord Camelford, asked Soane to renovate a country house in Norfolk, Burnham Westgate Hall. The job gave Soane his first crack at the building type.
As currently configured, the house has 13 bedrooms and 12 baths, and it sits on a 38-acre property. The asking price: $10.1 million.
