Short answers, pulled from the story.
Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558 to 1603 and commissioned no new royal palaces during this forty-five year period. She encouraged courtiers to build extravagantly instead of constructing state buildings herself.
Elizabethan architecture refers to early Renaissance architecture in England that arrived late compared to the rest of Europe during the sixteenth century. This style superseded Italian influence with Northern European styles and Flemish craftsmen replacing earlier Italian influences throughout the kingdom.
Wollaton Hall in Nottingham was completed in 1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby by architect Robert Smythson. Longleat House stands as one of the most characteristic examples of the prodigy house type alongside Montacute House and Audley End.
Robert Smythson lived from 1535 to 1614 and designed Wollaton Hall while John Thorpe worked from approximately 1570 until 1618. William Arnold practiced his craft between 1595 and 1637 according to available records and Simon Basil remained active from 1590 through 1615.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries had redistributed vast ecclesiastical lands to the newly risen nobility who possessed capital to construct massive secular residences. This event ended new religious building abruptly leaving secular structures dominant and shifting architectural energy toward private domestic projects.