country house

A residence so far away from a city or large village that it stands free among its outbuildings and dependencies, and is beyond the sidewalks and out of easy reach of the shops, etc., and has to be in a certain sense self-contained. This requirement is diminishing, however, with the increase of facility in communication, the general use of the telephone, and, at least in England, of the house to house delivery of mail matter. (Sturgis, 1900)