Country house conversion to apartments is the process whereby a large country house, which was originally built to accommodate one wealthy family, is subdivided into separate apartments (i.e. flats or condos) to allow multiple residential occupancy by a number of unrelated families. They are usually, by virtue of their age or style, listed buildings. The re-purposing of these mansions is one alternative to their demolition; there was wide-spread destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain, but remodelling them as multiple dwelling units became a more popular option after the Destruction of the Country House exhibition in 1974.