The Curzon family owned the estate and lived here since at least 1297, living in a succession of manor houses near to or on the site of the present Kedleston Hall. The family currently live in one wing of the house, having "donated" the main house to the government (who then gave it to the National Trust) to pay for the 80% death duties - a common story for the wealthy.
We joined a tour of the garden, which is not a formal garden, but rather has been landscaped into a more "natural" style; interestingly, this was done because a) Queen Anne had a preference for the landscape style of garden over the more formal style (apparently the box hedges disagreed with her), and b) the government introduced a tax of formal gardens, so many of them were converted to landscapes to avoid the tax.
One of the things we noted here, and confirmed at a number of other properties, was that the rear of the house facing south and to the garden is in many respects more flamboyant than the front - and most often south-facing to capture the sun; this was so that as you and your guests were enjoying the garden, you could admire the obvious wealth that could purchase such a lavish and wonderful property.
However, the majority of the house is simply a show-piece, built to house what is essentially a private museum collection with the intent of displaying wealth - and bucket-loads of it! The aim is achieved very well.
Our next stop was the first of our "Pride and Prejudice" stops - Sudbury Hall, another National Trust building, which was used as the interior of Pemberley (the estate that Mr Darcy was living in), which is one of the finest Restoration period mansions in the United Kingdom.
The house was built between 1660 and 1680 by George Vernon, grandfather of George Venables-Vernon the 1st Baron Vernon and is notable for its superb Great Staircase, fine Long Gallery, and portraits by John Michael Wright, and of Charles II's mistresses. Inside there are a mixture of architectural styles with carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Edward Pearce, murals by Louis Laguerre and elaborate plasterwork by Samuel Mansfield, James Pettifer and Robert Bradbury. There are formal gardens with a tree-fringed lake.
Once again, the property came into the hands of the National Trust thanks to death duties.