Today, many country houses have become hotels,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.aglaiamagazine.com/burley-manor-new-forest-review/|title=Staying at an English Manor House|date=2018-11-06|work=AGLAIA Magazine|access-date=2019-01-19|language=en-GB|archive-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119174832/https://www.aglaiamagazine.com/burley-manor-new-forest-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> schools, hospitals, museums and prisonsmuseums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until the early 1970s, [[Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain|hundreds of country houses were demolished]]. Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or II [[Listed buildings in England|listed]] as buildings of historic interest—andinterest onlywith the most faithful, most accurate, and mostrestrictions preciseon restoration and re-creation are permittedwork. SuchHowever such work, however, is usually very expensive, although the system does ensure that everything is done correctly and authentically. The negative side is that many owners cannot afford the work.
Although the ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a [[Trust law|private trust]], most notably at [[Chatsworth House|Chatsworth]], other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the [[Acceptance in Lieu]] scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but are retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated the private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture at [[Houghton Hall]] are now owned by the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]. In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and [[Civil ceremony|civil ceremonies]]. Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.landedhouses.co.uk/parties|title=Large Houses to Rent for Parties|date=2012-06-09|work=Mansions & Large Houses for Rent for Parties & Weddings UK|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en-GB|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103928/https://www.landedhouses.co.uk/party-houses/|url-status=live}}</ref> a [[Filming location|film location]] andor a [[corporate entertainment]] venue. While many country houses are open to the public and derive income through that means, they remain inhabited private houseshomes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners.
The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a [[BBC]] television programme, ''[[The Edwardian Country House]]'', which was filmed at [[Manderston House]] in Scotland. Another particularly popular television programme thatwhich features the dynamics of life in country houses is ''[[Downton Abbey]]'', which aired onthe [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in theseries'' [[UnitedDownton Kingdom]] and [[PBS]] in the [[United StatesAbbey]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/downton-abbey/|title=Downton Abbey on MASTERPIECE on PBS|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=29 October 2019|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026091952/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/downton-abbey/|url-status=live}}</ref>
