The National Trust owned stately home of Wallington in Northumberland houses a collection of eighteen lovely old dolls' houses, (including the huge and beautiful Hammond House), and my friend Jenny and I have spent many hours peering through tiny windows there.
Gladstone Lodge
So, when we visited again recently, you can imagine how pleased we were to find that this visit had a little something extra to enjoy. On entering the dolls' house room, we found that one of the houses had just been opened up and everything was set up ready to clean its tiny contents.
Apparently the dolls' houses will all be cleaned one by one over the coming months and, in line with the Trust's desire to engage with visitors and share information, the work is being done where the visiting public can see it.
The house being cleaned at the time of our visit was Gladstone Lodge, which is a house we had previously only viewed through its front windows, however, here it was with its opening back panels removed in readiness for cleaning.
Making our day, the friendly volunteer staff were more than happy to allow us to take a closer look at the house through the open back, and to take photos (without a flash of course) before they started to remove the furniture.
It was such a pleasure to be able to see the rooms in the house in their entirety and with plenty of light.
We were also able to watch as the volunteers removed some of the individual pieces of furniture and soft furnishings, and carefully cleaned them.
Here are the photos I took:
The Kitchen
I think I have the matching sink to this tin dresser in the kitchen of my Handicrafts house.
The Dining Room
Nice to see such a complete little German wireless radio set.
The rugs in the house are all beautifully hand-stitched.
Bedroom One
Tiny working scissors and opening penknife.
Bedroom Two
The Inhabitants
The house is anachronistically inhabited by a family of Halfpenny Pocket Dolls (c1980s).
Apart from this older bisque girl who can be found lying down in one of the bedrooms - the shock of the Halfpenny doll invasion?
The 'Stained Glass' Window and Stair Carpet
With the back off the house, we were able to see a couple of extra details such as the 'stained glass' window at the back of the stair landing. With light behind it instead of a wall, it's clear that the pattern has been carefully hand-drawn onto the glass.
And looking though the 'stained glass' window from the back, we could see the lovely [silk?] ribbon used as a stair runner.
The cleaning Process
It was great to see the care taken in the cleaning process.
The volunteers had an inventory of the contents of the house and were ticking the items off as they were cleaned.
A very soft brush was being used for dusting and the soft furnishings were covered by a net before being gently vacuumed with a small, hand-held machine with net tied over the suction nozzle - presumably to ensure that none of the tinier items disappeared up it (we've all been there....!)
As well as an inventory of the contents, the volunteers had reference photographs of each room so that everything could be put back into the house in exactly the same places they came from.
A Closer Look at the Exterior Details
The topmost finial on the attic window looks a bit suspect to me - too shiny and an odds shape? I could be completely wrong!
This rolled glass pattern reminds me of my grandparents' house and I know it was very popular in the 20th century, but I see from this incredibly informative website that it was made as early as the 1880s (possibly earlier but I didn't have time to look through all of the hundreds of references pics!)
Unfortunately, the date of Gladstone Lodge is stated as "Unknown" in the National Trust's archives. Our best guess would be late-Victorian/ Edwardian. The furniture inside would mostly seem to date to the early part of the 20th century, but that doesn't mean that the house is of the same date. Jenny made the very good point that the name "Gladstone Lodge" could be a clue as to age - if the name relates to the famous prime minister William Gladstone, then maybe the house wouldn't date to any later than his death in 1894? Just our thoughts of course.
So that was our visit. We left Wallington wondering how often we could visit over the next few months so as to be sure to see some more interiors as they are cleaned!
With thanks to the lovely National Trust volunteers who were so friendly and helpful, and put up with our excited chatter as we took full advantage of this rare opportunity to take a closer look inside Gladstone Lodge.
Until next time,
Zoe
