An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is an "estate" because the profits from its produce and rents are sufficient to support the household in the house at its center. Thus "the estate" may refer to all other cottages and villages in the same ownership as the mansion itself. An example of such an estate is Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, England.

"Estate", with its "stately" connotations, has been a natural candidate for inflationary usage during the 20th century, much as the "landscaping" that can be effected in a front or back yard.

United States

In the US, Long Island and other affluent East Coast enclaves had strong traditions of large agricultural estates attempting to rival those of Europe; however, after the 1940s, many were lost, and today large houses on a few acres are commonly referred to as "estates".

Traditional American estates include:

• Meadow Farm, East Islip, New York; estate of H. B. Hollins (demolished)
• Westbrook, Great River, New York; estate of William Bayard Cutting
• Coe Hall, Oyster Bay, New York; estate of William R. Coe
• Indian Neck Hall, Oakdale, New York; estate of Frederick Gilbert Bourne
• Inisfada, Manhasset, New York; estate of Nicholas Brady
• Idle Hour, Oakdale, New York; estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt
• Biltmore, Asheville, North Carolina; estate of George Washington Vanderbilt II
• Oheka Castle, Cold Spring Harbor, New York; estate of Otto Hermann Kahn

See also

• Country house
• Gentry
• Patroon