A flick to the back of a 21st-century fashion magazine reveals estate agents advertising grand estates, city penthouses, and stucco-fronted villas—offering glimpses into interiors and the lifestyles of the upper classes. In 1813, newspapers had no pictures. Small cottages and country seats were described side by side in dense paragraphs of front-page text. A scroll through the British newspaper archives, with a bit of imagination, reveals how these listings helped shape the visions of Regency writers.

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For the magazine’s property section, we created the fictitious agency T. W. and J. D. Jardine Estates, complete with branding and a campaign featuring six imagined architectural styles.

 

House Naming

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• Harewood takes its name from Harewood House, a stately home in Yorkshire.

• Highlands is a nod to Hylands Estate in Essex, though architecturally quite different.

• Gaddesden is inspired by Gaddesden Place in Hertfordshire.

• Mansfield Park was invented by Austen. Some academics suggest she may have had Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire in mind.

• Pembrook Park, the most castle-like of the set, references Pembroke Castle.

• Pendalbury and Heaver House are pure frivolities of the curator, S. J. King Esq.

 

Agency Naming

Behind the grandeur of many Regency properties lies the story of how they were financed. William Jardine, a leading merchant of the era, began his career as a surgeon’s mate aboard an East India Company vessel before going on to become the world’s most successful opium trader. His vast fortune created a legacy that still resonates today.

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For our Novel Magazine, we’ve reimagined the Jardines as estate agents, slipped neatly into the sidelines of our version of history.