Down at the Palace II

Oh hey there. Lazy Famapa at your service. Apologies for the delay in part II of my Eltham Palace visit. So, let’s get right back to it. Continuing on the ground floor we entered the wood panelled full on Art Deco dining room, where on one section of the walls was this inlaid synchronous clock, which at the time ran off the mains supply (very high tech back then). The wealthy Courtaulds spared no expense on all the mod cons, with both underfloor and ceiling heating, wired loudspeakers throughout the house connected to a record player and an internal telephone exchange.

Fancy.

Too fancy for the staff to have their lunch in, so they eat in here instead. This room is usually open to the public, but due to Covid restrictions lots of rooms were out of bounds, which was a shame as it would have been interesting to have seen the servants quarters.

This corridor is part of it. Really digging the green.

We then walked up the stairs, where we took a moment to look out this circular window.

Walking past this door we tried to figure if it had anything to do with cricket, or multiple Bruce Waynes.

In a corridor on the way to the bedrooms we could see what the roof of the entrance hall looked like from the outside. What a mish mash of architectural styles!

A painted Virginia Courtauld and Mah-Jongg. Stephen got cropped out as a result of the reflections in the glass.

Virginia and Stephen had separate bedrooms (but with a little door interlinking the two), and Virginia had the largest one. I preferred Stephen’s. This room felt a bit cold and uncozy.

Maybe because freaks like this were walking around taking pictures? Hmmmmm.

She did go all out in the bathroom though. BLING.

Gold taps daahling.

And a walk-in wardrobe. In non-Covid times children can dress up in Tudor, 1930’s and WW2 fashion styles in here.

Stephen’s bedroom. Much nicer don’t you think? If I had worn a jacket with bigger pockets I would’ve stuffed that bedcover in it.

D in the the more spartan and masculine ensuite.

When I took this pic, D said that she also took a picture of it and posted it on Instagram - 10 years ago. :D

The back of the Great Hall. Not your usual little stuck-on conservatory, eh?

Snooping in under the watchful eye of two very nice stone heads (pretty sure that’s the correct architectural term for them).

And finally, the “modern” extension from the outside with the old moat. It’s feels like it’s been years since I’ve nosied around an old stately home, and I must say I really enjoy doing so. I can’t help thinking how interesting it would be to see preserved homes from regular people and not just the hoi polloi though. I’d love to see a much more complete version of domestic history, because, really, these rich folk were/are the minority and don’t fully represent the past. I’m sure there are workers cottages and old farms out there, still kept as they were, and I hope I get to snoop around them one day too.

Down at the Palace

Remember how I wrote in the last post that I’d been busy topping up on cultural experiences? I took quite a few pics as a result, so I think I’ll start with the most recent and then work backwards. A couple of weeks ago me and my friend D went on a Sunday excursion to Eltham Palace in south London. As a north Londoner, south London feels like another city, so it was really nice to go somewhere (for me) completely new (D had already been twice, which was handy, as she could basically give me a guided tour of the place) - even though we got stuck in traffic and had to take a massive detour to get home. It took 45 minutes to get there, but 2 hours to get home!

It was totally worth it though. I’ve been wanting to go there for decades, but have never gotten my act together. There were two one-way systems for how you could walk up to the house, so we took the long garden route, and of course it started to rain and of course we didn’t bring brollies. But it didn’t matter, because look how damn pretty it is.

I even had to take a picture of the mexican fleabane (same as we have in our window boxes at home). It spreads like a weed and I hope it will do so in our front garden too.

So, let me tell you a little about the palace. It used to be a royal palace from the 14th to 16th century (there’s still a moat), but fell out of favour in Henry the VIII’s reign when he upped sticks and moved to Hampton Court. It eventually fell into disrepair centuries later, and the only remaining part of the palace is the Great Hall, seen here on the left. An über wealthy couple (Stephen and Virginia Courtauld) eventually took over in 1933 and built a huge extension where they lived and partied, which you can see on the right.

The Great Hall from the inside. Pretty great, eh? Every time I visit a great hall somewhere it always makes me think of Harry Potter. Anyway, this was built in the 1470’s and in the early 19th century it was used as an indoor tennis court!

Not sure how old this chair was, but it’s probably older than the 1930’s ;)

From the Great Hall you continue in to the newer part, and this room was Stephen Courtauld’s library. All that wood panelling is so yum. Apparently he’d retreat into this room mid-party if it all got a bit much.

Next door was his wife Virginia’s study. I love the map showing were the house is. And that radio is a beaut.

Check out all of them architectural details. Ouffff.

And then… the entrance hall - the reason I’ve been wanting to go here for so long. It’s Art Deco heaven I tell you! It definitely didn’t disappoint in real life. Can you imagine all the glamorous parties they would’ve had here back in the day?! Well, they did - they had loads. D made me laugh when she blurted out “What I can’t understand is why no one has handed me a cocktail yet?!”. Word.

The ceiling/skylight above the room. There was a huge outrage at the time over the fact that the Courtaulds had nerve to put something so modern next to Great Hall. Understandable.

The furniture and the rug are reproductions of what would have been here at the time.

The couple had a pet lemur called Mah-Jongg who was allowed loose in the house, and this was his ladder back up to his room on the first floor.

A window from an adjacent room and an in-house telephone.

Looking back at these pictures a small part of me misses big parties and the chance to dress up. In my 20’s I used to work on a magazine, and we got to go to big do’s every now and again, and of course there were also the weddings of friends during that same decade, but those big celebrations kind of peter out in your 40’s. Now the thought of a big party feels especially strange of course. I do think a huge celebratory worldwide party would be something to look forward to once we’ve figured this damn virus out, a bit like the V-day celebrations after WW2. Although who the hell would have enough money to foot the bill? Jeff Bezos I guess. And Mark Zuckerberg. Those dudes OWE US.

But I digress. This detail in the wood panelling shows Stadshuset (the Town Hall - the building with the three crowns at the top of the tower) and the Royal Palace in Stockholm. My parents got married in the that town hall, which is kind of amazing, but I think it was just their local town hall back then. Next time I’m in Stockholm I’m going to go full-on tourist and check both of those buildings out.

Couldn’t help but take lots of pictures from this room as it’s pretty stunning, so apologies for the overload. Next week I’ll show you the rest of the house. Have a good weekend!

Kind of recently

Time. Anyone else struggling with it at the moment? Or maybe it is focus? For me it’s probably a combination of the two. I have so many things I should be doing but I don’t get round to, and then I get all frustrated with myself for not being disciplined enough to JUST DO IT. Actually, I’m only feeling this way this week, and up until now I’ve felt quite relaxed about everything, and so of course there’ll be a period where I’ll feel the opposite. It’s just how life goes… the yin and the yang and all that. And maybe it’s not so weird that my to do list has increased as I’ve been doing a lot of nice things recently… A couple of weeks ago it felt like we were going into another lockdown, so I made sure I stocked up on culture and hung out with friends. I have quite a few posts to put together from the past couple of months, but in the mean time I thought I’d send these pics out into the ether.

October 4th, 1.38pm
While we were eating lunch on Sunday, I saw something large flapping its wings at the back of the garden - turns out it was this heron. He/she sat out there in the rain for a few hours (I kept going back to see if it was still there), and it occurred to me to take a picture of it through our binoculars. Herons have a special place in my heart as the first time I saw one was in Amsterdam (and you know how I love that place). There is usually one hanging around the Ladies Pond in winter, but I’ve yet to spot it this season. Oh yes! I’m back swimming in the pond again, and am so grateful for being able to go and get my fix.

October 4th, 10.27am
Earlier the same day I wondered what it would like if I took a picture of Buddy lying below him on the floor. Turns it looks like this.

September 15th, 8.54am
Sunny mornings are the best (I hope we get many this winter).

September 11th, 5.47pm
And sunny afternoons are also good, especially now that the Mexican Fleabane in the planters have grown and cast great silhouettes against our frosted windows.

August 31st, 6.47pm
The resident hairdresser at work. One of Oomoo’s friends came over for a sleepover, and got a new haircut as well. Mr Famapa has been cutting my hair too since lockdown. That man has some serious skillz. Handy - and cheap!

August 28th, 10.59am
We should really count how many books he reads a year. I’m sure he’s beaten me many times over already (I’m on my 13th so far).

August 24th, 12.23pm
I turned 45 this year - what the?!! I’ll be half a hundred in five years time, but with all my friends touching that milestone already it doesn’t actually feel that weird. Anyway, Mr Famapa was away working (yay - for working and nay for not being here) but he ordered me and Oomoo some surprise cupcakes, which was so nice.

Garden time

Trust September to be the best weather month of the year. It almost always is in this country. The summers can be cold, wet and miserable, but come September it just settles, with comfortably warm temperatures and lots of sun. As a result I seem to be spending all of my afternoons in the garden.

I sit there and read, and yesterday I started a new book, with the ugliest cover ever.

Buddy comes out too, and he just chills out like a dog, staying put.

Not much is flowering in our garden anymore, but these verbena bonarienses are still going strong. Once we feel more flush with money I’d like to change up the planting and have more of an all year garden Piet Oudolf style.

The suns retreats behind the houses earlier and earlier but I don’t mind.

Oomoo sat outside doing his homework when he got back from school.

And Mr Famapa conked out for an afternoon nap.

So many helicopters have been flying over since lockdown; I wonder if it’s the super rich commuting between their country piles and their offices in the City?

Looking ahead on the weather forecast it looks like I’ve jinxed it - it says it’ll rain everyday from Tuesday onwards. I better make the most of it until then. If you need me you know where to find me :0)