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!