Back in 2017, House & Garden celebrated its 70th anniversary with a bumper collectors issue in June. Within the pages of the magazine, Creative Director Jenny Lister chose nine covers from the archives which stand out from the crowd. Where we’re used to a beautiful room or architectural image gracing the cover now, back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, things were a little more unusual. “I would love to live in a world where I could be this playful with the cover,” Jenny says, “but the newsstand now is a much more competitive place and our visual language has been so standardised across the board (from advertising to interiors and fashion) that the opportunity to do something imaginative, avant-garde and, as some of the below might seem, ridiculous, is gone.”

Back then, however, things were quite different and the choices below which Jenny made in 2017 – and many of which now decorate the walls of the House & Garden offices too – show a huge variation in the relatively short timespan they cover. The latest decorating ideas and architectural excitements are all on show, of course, but in a more abstract, artistic way. There are surreal plants, larger than life animals and even a hint of nudity to be enjoyed. The House & Garden archive is rich with delights from our storied past – from the finest country houses to hilarious features – and these covers just show the personality that has always led the magazine.