The iconic Union Buildings have been named among the 20 most beautiful stately homes in the world.
Many visitors who came to admire South Africa’s seat of executive power posted glowing reviews on social media.
Visitors who raved about the stately home posted more than 187 times on Instagram, according to a UK-based company called Swift Direct Blinds.
In addition, the research showed that since June 2021, online searches for the Union Buildings have increased by 2.88%.
The research used a combination of reviews, search and social data posted by visitors to different stately homes.
The Union Buildings garnered 26.31% reviews for their unique beauty, placing them 16th among the beautiful stately homes globally.
Designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1908, the building was initially meant to house the entire public service for the Union of South Africa.
The researchers made a list of well-known stately homes across the world.
“We used Yelp and TripAdvisor to find the total number of reviews for each stately home as well as the number of reviews which contain the word ‘beautiful’ (data was collected on 12/06/2023). We divided the number of ‘beautiful’ reviews by the total number of reviews to calculate the percentage of beautiful reviews for each stately home,” said the researchers.
Instagram was also used to find the number of social media posts under hashtag #statelyhomename for each entry. Google keyword planner was used to find the total number of global searches for each stately home from June 2021 to May 2022 and a separate total for June 2022 to May 2023.
Visitors to stately homes often captured photos posted on social media, according to the research.
Buckingham Palace topped the list of stately homes securing the most Instagram hashtags with over 1.5 million.
The official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, increased the most in popularity with online searches increasing by 247.98%.
UK stately homes dominated the top 10 list of the most beautiful stately homes in the world, but just missing out on the top 10 was Blenheim Palace in 14th place and Highclere Castle in 20th place.
Castle Howard is crowned as the most beautiful stately home with 47.06% of reviews mentioning the word “beautiful”.
The researchers said: “Aside from the stunning interior, many have praised this estate for its lavish chapel and surrounding gardens. Based on its first-place entry in our list, it’s not surprising that this castle has also been used as the setting for a selection of TV shows.”
Waddesdon Manor is the second UK-based home to feature in the list, with 44.44% of all reviews containing the word “beautiful”.
Owned by the National Trust, the country house sees hundreds of thousands of visitors through its doors every year.
The word “beautiful’ appeared in 40.77% of reviews for Oheka Castle, which was the third highest of any stately home on the list.
The research found that people posted about Buckingham Palace more than any other stately home, with a total of 1 514 153 posts on Instagram.
