I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by the way the house is displayed there but it was still lovely to see it 'in the flesh'.
Being the granddaughter of coal miners from County Durham, I was interested to learn that the house was made for a wealthy family called Blackett and that the fortune of that family came from coal and lead mining in Northumberland and County Durham.
It's also thought that the exterior could be based on Newby Hall in North Yorkshire (owned by the Blackett family at the time the dolls' house was made), which is not far from where I live now and is also, coincidentally, where the dolls' house collection of Caroline Hamilton and Jane Fiddick is on display.
But never mind all that - let's look inside!
The dining room has wonderful hand-painted walls showing scenes of Italian landscapes and classical ruins.
As someone with a tendency to cram as much furniture into a mini room as possible, I find this room a bit sparse but I suppose it depicts the fashion of the time (and they didn't have eBay in the sixteenth century either!)
The bedroom has the same wallpaper as the drawing room and the four-poster bed has a beautiful silk taffeta cover and curtains.
I like the built-in shelves and range in the kitchen but the star of the show in this room has to be the working spit roasting mechanism over the hearth.
[Sorry, I couldn't get this room all in one shot so I had to splice together two photos.]
The windows on the opening fronts have silk curtains which can be drawn using the cords!
The attic rooms and basement are accessed through side doors and were difficult to see into. From what we could see, they didn't appear to contain much furniture at all.
What I found most remarkable about this house was the wonderful condition of the decor and furnishings. One or two items of furniture were added by later generations but it's hard to believe that the majority of it is over two hundred and fifty years old!
Until next time,
Zoe
Wonderful to see good interior photos of this house and how nice for you and Claire to actually see it! Very surprised to find it has North east England connections though i feel i should have guessed with the name Blackett.
ReplyDeleteIt’s always lovely to see something for real that you’ve look at in books for years.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mouthwateringly splendiferous house! And I am always impressed by your ability to produce good photographs under such difficult circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe blue wallpapers are especially gorgeous, I love the outsized pattern.
Thank you, Edel, this one certainly was a challenge to photograph and I was, unfortunately, unable to get photos of the lovely objects lurking in the darkness at the back of a couple of the rooms. The blue paper is great isn’t it? Claire has something very similar in one of her houses but she got it from Paperchase! 🙃
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