eyecatcher

Unusual sites from around the globe

Architect and client on the case, 1910-style. Here is Sir Edwin Lutyens (centre, with pipe) plotting the site of Castle Drogo, the last of the English castles, for the retired grocer Julius Drewe (left). Drewe's agent, John Walker, is on the right. Drewe made his fortune with Home & Colonial stores and commissioned Lutyens, or was talked into commissioning, to build the fabulous house, now in hands of the National Trust, that looms over Dartmoor.

Jane Brown has written a fascinating account (Lutyens and the Edwardians, Viking, pounds 25, to be published 13 May) on how the great Lutyens managed to persuade clients to part with so much money and to build on the scale of Castle Drogo, the Viceroy's Palace, New Delhi and a host of magnificent, late-flowering English country houses. Books that explain the relationship of architects to their clients are rare, and this one is a jewel.