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Lavender’s Blue + 1,000 Articles

Upward We Fly

The Tuamgraney born London based novelist Edna O’Brien once remarked, “There’s a very interesting thing about memory and exile. It is only when you leave someone or something that the full power if you like, the performance of it is in you, it’s inside you. So separation brings the emotions and ultimately a book. I think a book is the accumulation of emotions written in a particular, hopefully musical, way. It’s a beautiful feeling actually; it’s like the whole influx of something that is stronger than memory. Of course, it’s memory but you’re back in it, not writing it secondhand. Again, that counts for a certain derangement.”

It all started with Cliveden. In September 2012, we received an invitation to stay in the Berkshire hotel but as hard copy publications back then were disappearing faster than Veuve Cliquot at one of our soirées, we came up with the idea of publishing an article online. And so Lavender’s Blue was born. The name has triple derivation after our home (“Your house is so cinematic!” declares film director Stephan Pierre Mitchell), our location and the song by Marillion. Before long, every PR in London and further afield learned we always turn up, give good party, and even better copy. Although five parties in one day starting with an 11am Champagne reception for New York thinker John Mack in the Rosewood Hotel was pushing it even by our standards. Actually, it all really began in April 1995 with a column House of the Month in Ulster Architect magazine, edited and published by the bold and brave and brilliant Anne Davey Orr. But that’s a whole other story.

While most events are one-offs, from a vanishing crystal coach at Ascot to a vanishing guest on the Orient Express, others would become annual events. If the preview of Masterpiece (in Royal Hospital Chelsea grounds) was an early summer hit each year, the Boutique Hotel Awards (in Merchant Taylor’s Hall) would quickly become a midwinter highlight. Fortunately Masterpiece has been replaced by The Treasure House Fair and WOW!house and we’ve landed ourselves on their preview lists. We’re also proving a hit at the annual International Media Marketplace.

Behind the curtain. That’s our forte. And we don’t just mean peeping round the iron variety (think Gdańsk). We’re not only through the gates: we’re over the threshold. We gain access where others dare not tread. If it’s an Irish country house, we’ll stay with the owners and explore the cellars and attics – preferably when they’re tucked up in their fourposter (Temple House). We’ll pop into the kitchen to see what’s really going on whether in Le Bristol or Comme Chez Soi. We’ll talk to the lady of the manor and a millworker (Sion Mills). Sometimes it takes a village to raise an article: in Castletownshend the fun began over breakfast at The Castle continuing through public houses and private houses up Main Street before ending back in The Castle by dawn.

If “design” is the mauve thread that sews Lavender’s Blue together, “celebration of life” is our way of banishing anything mentally blue. Illuminated by art and architecture, fashion and the Divine, we’re mad for life, channelling that literary derangement. But if it ain’t good, it don’t appear. Simple. At the opposite end of the spectrum, some events are far too private to be published such as an impresario salon recital in one of London’s grandest houses surrounded by more Zoffanys than The National Gallery owns while sampling the owners’ South African wine cellar. Or a party in Corke Lodge, County Wicklow, with more diplomats per square metre than Kensington Palace Gardens being serenaded by the Whiffenpoofs on the folly gladed lawn.

Lavender’s Blue is all about places and people so we rarely do personal. You won’t read how we were catastrophically frogmarched out of The Lanesborough (too much catwalking) or categorically told to pipe down in Launceston Place (too much caterwauling). Or the full story of hijinks with the model Parees which one friend described as sounding like an escapade from an Armistead Maupin short story. Original writing and original photography – and occasionally original drawing (from a two minute sketch of Mountainstown House to a 10 hour floor plan of Derrymore House) – are our creative cornerstones. We never plagiarise except from ourselves: to quote from one of our most read articles, Beaulieu House, “Lavender’s Blue is the brilliant coated edition of universal facts, riveting mankind, bringing nice and pretty events.” We’ll coin the odd phrase too from “Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder” to “You can’t be this fabulous and not make a few enemies!”

What’s our literary style? Well we’re not paid up members of Plain English for starters. Lord Wolfe would blanche at such opening gambits as, “There’s nothing standard in The Standard” or “Mary Martin London fashion is more than an antinomic macédoine: it is a semiotic embrace of science and conviction made manifest in materiality, tactility and sartorial disruption”. There are a quarter of a million English words to choose from (compared to a mere 100,000 in French and a meagre 85,000 in Chinese) so why reach for simplicity when you can stretch the lexicon? We don’t like to namedrop but as Daphne Guinness shared with us about her lyrics at a party in Notting Hill, “There are some words I just really like the sound of!” A picture tells 1,000 words and sometimes we’ll deliver 1,000 words and 1,000 pictures. But how can you keep the shutter open when you’re cherishing Chatsworth or roaming round Rochester? We’re not just about obvious glitz and glamour. So we frequent Hôtel Meurice in Paris and Hôtel Meurice in Calais. We’ve explored Georgian Bath and Georgian Dover. Doubling down on clichés is avoided except in derision while downing Chapel Down south of the Kent Downs.

How long does an article take to prepare? Some flow with automatic writing on a commute or in bed or in the bath in almost unconscious reverie. Others take decades. Mourne Park House started with a memorable visit in 1992 (the boathouse collapsed and gracefully slid into the lake mid morning coffee) and continued with return visits up to 2021 (by then the house was badly burnt). Crevenagh House was photographed over two decades in every season from heavy snow to scorching sunshine. We visited Gunnersbury Park four times over a London heatwave to capture it morning, noon, evening, and after supper. We also vacationed at Murlough four times, Irish Sea hopping in search of elusive sunlight. Montevetro and Marlfield both first appeared in Ulster Architect before being resurrected on Lavender’s Blue. Marlfield is the work of genius architect Alfred Cochrane with later lodges by the talented Albert Noonan. And on that note, John O’Connell’s work (Montalto) and tours (Ranger’s House) have added an abundance of sparkle to Lavender’s Blue.

We’re always up for top drawer collaborations: polo in Buenos Aires; the Government in Montenegro; Audi in Istanbul; Boutique Hotels Club in Bruges; Guggenheim in Bilbao; Rare Champagne in Paris. Did we mention Paris? The friendliest city in the world! As long as you’re in the right set, of course. We know our French, spring, red and rings. Oh, and we’re easily dragooned to fashion shows stretching the bailiwick especially when it comes to fashion artist Mary Martin London. Vintage models (Goodwood, Carmen dell’Orefice and Pattie Boyd), modern models (Esther Blakley, Janice Blakley and Katie Ice – all beautiful, all gazelles), royalty (Queen Ronke and Catherine Princess of Wales) and pop star royalty (Heather Small) have all enjoyed Lavender’s Blue exposure. There are even occasional segues into filming (Newzroom Afrika and English Heritage) and the dreaded bashing of ivories (Rabbit).

The current culmination of Lavender’s Blue is an exquisitely printed hardback coffee table book of substance on the Holy Land. The first edition of SABBATH PLUS ONE was an instant sellout at Daunt Books Marylebone. It’s now on the coffee tables of all the best homes – including a certain Clarence House. Oh yes, King Charles III is really enjoying his copy. “Your most thoughtful gesture is greatly appreciated …” So it’s time for the second edition. Same high quality print with a reddish burgundy rather than navy blue hard back hand stitched fabric cover. We’re still gonna vaunt about Daunt. Only the finest. In all the best libraries now, not least earning its stripes at Abbey Leix House and Pitchford Hall. And lobbies: The American Colony Hotel and The Jaffa.

We do love our triple Michelin starred places (L’Ambroisie, Lasarte, Core). Champagne! Foam! Truffle! While most of the restaurants we have visited are still thriving, unknowingly at the time, Lavender’s Blue would become an archive for quite a few. Aquavit, Bank Westminster and Zander Bar, Duddell’s, Farmacy, Galvin at Windows in The Hilton Park Lane, The Gas Station (one of our regular rendezvous with fellow gourmand Becks), Hello Darling, Marcus Wareing’s Tredwell’s, 8 Mount Street, Nuala, Plateau, Rex Whistler at Tate Britain, San Lorenzo, Senkai, Tom Kemble at Bonham’s, and Typing Room all in London have disappeared. So have Scheltema in Brussels, Le Détroit in Calais, The Black Douglas in Deal, The Table in Broadstairs, l’Écrivain in Dublin, Cristal Room Baccarat in Paris, and Forage and Folk in Omagh.

Still, nothing tastes as good as skinny fries. It’s survival of the fattest! Impressive as it was, Embassy Gardens Marketing Suite was never built to last. Erarta Art Gallery, Fu Manchu nightclub (the real Annabel’s!) and The Green and Found gift shop are lost in the mists of time. We’d barely photographed Quinlan Terry’s 35 year old junior common room bungalow at Downing College before the wrecker’s ball entered the site. We’re already missing our perfumer neighbour Sniff.

Even sadder, we have become the repository for final curtain interviews. Min Hogg, Founding Editor of The World of Interiors magazine and Anna Wintour’s first boss, the 9th Marquess of Waterford and the musician Diana Rogers entertained us – and hopefully you – with their end of life witticisms. David George, a reader of our Diana in Savannah article wrote, “I was married to her for 10 years and we were together for more than two decades. When you look in the sky she is the brightest star that you will ever see! I love you sweet middle class princess! Rest in peace, all my love, David.” We featured artist Trevor Newton’s final solo show and fashion designer Thierry Mugler taking his au revoir bow at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris. Now historic photographs of model Misty Bailey appeared on Lavender’s Blue. Lindy Guinness, the last Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, shared thoughts at one of her last townhouse parties full of people one should know like the international tastemaker Charles Plante. Beresford Neill reminisced on early 20th century Tyrella. And of course, two memorial pieces to the much missed Dorinda, Lady Dunleath. The last book launch of Dame Rosalind Savill, the inspirational scholar of European decorative arts and visionary museum director of the Wallace Collection, is another moving memory now frozen in time.

Readers’ comments are always of interest. Standout messages include a painting request to Ballyfin; advice on the best photographic viewing point at Dungiven Castle; revealing a shared love of Mary Delany or the Mitfords; a discussion of the meaning of Rue Monsieur; Samarès Manor relatives trying to contact each other during a Jersey storm; and an unreported baby drowning in a mansion swimming pool in Sandwich Bay. Mount Congreve attracted interesting comments including from James Sweeney who wrote, “I worked in Mount Congreve Estate for many years as a Private Chef to the Congreves. It was a joy and a pleasure and has given me cherished memories. Mr Congreve was an amazing man and I owe him a great deal for his wisdom that he kindly let me benefit from.”

Ewelina from Beauty on the Cliff poetically scribed, “Waterford is my home since 17 years and Mount Congreve was always my soft point. The moment when you enter the place is simply magical. I’ve been inside the house recently, just before yesterday. I was inside of the Blue Wedgwood Room … well … only the pale blue walls and the beautiful but sadly empty china cabinets reminded me about past grandeur of this place. It’s really really heartbreaking to see the empty rooms, stripped from everything … even the curtains … the books all over the floor in the library … totally without the respect for Mr Congreve. I hope that Waterford City Council didn’t forget that was someone else’s home. As Mr Yeats said, ‘Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’ Thank you so much for your review. Kindest regards from Waterford.” Sara Stainsby messaged, “Really interesting essay on Stapleford Park. My great grandparents worked there, my grandmother was born there and was married in the church. In the 70s I visited my great grandparents when they lived in a flat above the stables …” Birthday wishes (Portrait) and restoration concerns (Barden Towers) are always welcome. Even more welcome was a Champers accompanied poem hand delivered to the state dining room (Hartwell House).

There are direct messages too: “I came across your Lavender’s Blue series starting from Auchinleck then Crevenagh House and Tullan Strand. I can see from your McClelland connection that you have an interest in Northern Ireland including Donegal … I found that your articles on architecture address the most erudite, meticulous and expansive aspects of the subject so perhaps the work of James Taylor in late Georgian times will fall beneath the range of your interest in the style and proportions of symmetrical Palladian buildings.” We jumped straight in a car to Islington. Likewise when tipped off about Stockwell Park. A reader enjoyed our “wonderful commentary on various aspects of Ballyshannon … tis wonderful to share your thoughts about my hometown”. We’ll accept high praise from Ireland’s greatest host: “I just love your articles striking notes of deepest erudizione to soprano and coloratura gossip! I’m so glad you were the catalyst to my party and I can’t believe it went so well.”

Amazing Grace Point inspired a declaration of faith: “Lough Swilly and Fort Dunree is one of the most wonderful places in Ireland to visit, and especially to look out across the waters where so many great ships have sailed. But most of all – to ponder the words of Amazing Grace written there by John Newton. His miraculous conversion credited to his mother’s prayers. She never gave up, like my mother, who never gave up but prayed me into the Kingdom.” Messages come from above and down under: “I hope you don’t mind me emailing you but I happened to walk into a beautiful graveyard today in Picton, Australia, and happened to come across this one particular headstone. I was instantly intrigued as my grandparents were from Donegal in Ireland and I wanted to see if this was close? Anyway I just read about Mountjoy Square and when the area become established. I’m not sure but working out the dates I think this couple might have been some of the original inhabitants? I saw an article that you wrote and just wanted to share this with you – you may or may not appreciate it but I wanted to bring this couple home!” They’ve come home.

Artist and art restorer Denise Cook crosses the rare divide from comment provider to content provider sharing her expanse of knowledge from Pink Magnolias to the Rector of Stiffkey. So does Dr Roderick O’Donnell, world authority on all matters Pugin. Another reader turned writer, the ever erudite historian and patron of the arts Nicholas Sheaff, brought Gosford Castle completely (back) to life. “There is really too much to say,” to parrot Henry James in The Portrait of a Lady, 1881. Haud muto factum.

As Reverend Prebendary Andy Rider once quipped, “You do get around.” Amsterdam to Zürich, Brussels to Verona, Channel Island hopping, nowhere is safe from the Lavender’s Blue sagacity filled patrician treatment. As for our favourite place, that’s simple: Bunbeg Beach, especially at 10.30pm on a sun drenched midsummer night. Chronicling our times, we produce the material – and sometimes we are the material. But only when shot by the likes of top cinematographer Mina Hanbury-Tennyson-Choi and shoot the shoot supremo Simon Dutson. Striking a striking pose. Fading grandeur (the interior not the model).

“The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, You call forth songs of joy,” Psalm 65. Lavender’s Blue is between the bookends of everything that was and is to come. It’s about dealing with things as they are, not as they should be. We’re all about orchestrating a fresh approach, synthesising Baroque stridency with Palladian refinement. Our oeuvre is a sumptuous sequence of artistic compositions. On the frontline, turning to face the light. Mary Oliver always gets it right: Instructions for Living a Life, 2010, “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Thank you to all our readers. Thank you Council Bluffs. In the short now, to pluralise the words of the French Resistance fighter Simone Segouin, “We’d do it all again.”

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Design

Lindy Guinness Marchioness of Dufferin + Ava + Abbey Leix Laois

Holland Days Source

Neither a Monday evening nor (apropos to an Irish shindig) drizzly weather could possibly dampen spirits. Not when it’s a party co hosted by the dashing Sir David Davies and the lively Lindy Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, last Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava. Her Ladyship is the artist known as Lindy Guinness. The setting is another draw: the mid Victorian splendour of Lindy’s Kensington city mansion (townhouse being too humble a term).

Banker and businessman Sir David is President of the Irish Georgian Society. In between rescuing companies and country houses, he leads a high profile social life, counting Christina Onassis among his exes. Like all the greats, he once worked at MEPC. This party is a book launch celebrating the publication about his primary Irish estate, Abbey Leix in County Laois. Averys Champagne is served with prawns and pea purée on silver spoons. There’s a metaphor lurking in that cutlery.

Two vast full depth bay windowed reception rooms on the piano nobile of the Marchioness’s five storey house easily accommodate the 100 guests. One room is hung with her paintings. Renowned fine art specialist Charles Plante is an admirer: “Lindy Guinness brings forth abstraction in painting that mirrors the Cubism of Cézanne and Picasso. Her works are irresistible.” The staircase walls are lined with David Hockney drawings. In fact there’s 20th century art everywhere. Lucien Freud was Lindy’s brother-in-law and old chums included Francis Bacon and Duncan Grant.

This party’s getting going. Everyone one should know is here. Interior decorator Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill is admiring the garden. Sir David’s glamorous sister Christine and her son Steffan are chatting in the entrance hall. They’re from Ballybla near Ashford, County Wicklow. Turns out they’re big fans of nearby Hunter’s Hotel. Writer Robert O’Byrne is conversing with designer and collector Alec Cobbe in the drawing room. “I still live in Newbridge House when I’m in Ireland,” confirms Alec. Broadcaster Sean Rafferty is busy playing down his former illustrious career in Northern Ireland where he’s still a household name. “You must visit my cottage in Donegal.” A party isn’t a party without interior decorator extraordinaire Nicky Haslam. “I didn’t realise I was such a style icon to you young guys!”

Fresh off the treadmill finishing the definitive guide to Russborough in County Wicklow, a mighty tome on another Irish country house, Abbey Leix was erudite architectural historian William Laffan’s next commission. Sir David bought the estate from the 1st Earl Snowdon’s nephew, 7th Viscount de Vesci, for £3 million in 1995. William’s book celebrates the restoration of the house and the rejuvenation of its 485 hectare estate.

“Thank you to Lindy for inviting us to her home,” Sir David announces. “It’s very much a home not a museum. Someone asked me earlier was this my house. I wish it was! The only thing better than a double 1st is a double Guinness! Lindy is a Guinness by birth and a Guinness by marriage. And thank you to William for all the hard work. I asked him to write 100 pages and three years later he’s written hundreds of pages! The photographs are beautiful but do make sure you all read a bit of William’s great text too!”

The Knight of Glin’s widow Madam Olda FitzGerald, mother-in-law of the actor Dominic West, appears. Sir David nods, “Desmond FitzGerald was a great inspiration to me. Bless him, bless the Irish Georgian Society. I feel very honoured to follow in his footsteps as President. There are three other people I wish to thank without whom the restoration of Abbey Leix wouldn’t have been possible. John O’Connell, the greatest conservation architect in Ireland. Val Dillon, the leading light of the antiques trade. John Anderson, former Head Gardener of Mount Usher Gardens and Keeper of the Gardens of Windsor Great Park. I had to prise him away from the Royals!”

“Bravo!” toasts the Marchioness. Her blue eyes twinkling, her jaunty scarf knotted as tightly as the curls of her silvery hair, Lindy chats about her other property, the very private Clandeboye, a late Georgian country house on an 800 hectare estate in County Down. She’s especially proud of her yoghurt production on the estate. “My mother-in-law gallantly rescued Clandeboye from debt and brought in the flamboyant designer Felix Harbord to do up the house in the 1950s. He designed the American Plantation style porte cochère with its four white Doric columns. The blank entrance wall of the 1st Marquess’s remodelling must have previously given such a drab first impression of the house. Felix also decorated Luttrellstown Castle, my aunt’s house near Dublin. Clandeboye is a house of dreams and enchantment that fills my thoughts and – now as I am older – the pleasure of being part of it grows greater.”

Lindy keeps talking, “I can remember arriving for the first time in 1962 and walking up the 1st Marquess’s halls in blurred amazement. I was a youthful debutante and had come to stay for a Clandeboye weekend. This first summer visit passed in days of happy exploration. We had arrived late in the evening when all was dark. I remember waking the following morning and looking out from my bedroom called Rome to see a magnificent interlocking landscape of greens that led down to a lake. It was especially beautiful – there were low horizontal bands of Irish mist allowing only certain parts of the landscape to be sharply defined. Oh you’ve got me reminiscing!” The Averys Champagne flows.

That was 2017. Where are the main players now? Just three years after this party, the hostess who was born Serena Belinda Rosemary Guinness died aged 79. The marquessate defunct, Sir John Blackwood, 5th Baron Dufferin, a descendent of her husband’s family, was upgraded to take over Clandeboye and 4 Holland Villas Road. Sir David Davies sold Abbey Leix in 2021 and his main base is Killoughter House near Ashford, County Wicklow. John O’Connell acted as architect for its restoration. Charles Plante is now recognised as an international tastemaker. In 2025 Robert O’Byrne published The Irish Country House A New Vision. Featured piles of the Emerald Isle include Killoughter House and Moyglare Manor, a former hotel near Maynooth in County Kildare. Madam Olda FitzGerald continues to add sparkle to high society events, not least Alfred Cochrane’s legendary 2024 summer garden party at Corke Lodge in County Wicklow. “A party is only as fabulous as its guests!” quipped Ireland’s most stylish host. William Laffan’s book on Abbey Leix became an instant collector’s item and is currently valued at over eight times its original price of £40.

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Architects Architecture Country Houses Hotels People Restaurants

Tyrella House + Tyrella Beach Down

All the Demands of the Temple of The Sun at Baalbec

It’s late 2015 and first glimpse (through a verdurous vista) from the sweeping avenue past the hilltop sham fort (every entrance should have one) is of a squarish main block five bays side on, four bays full frontal. Surprisingly Tyrella House isn’t covered by Mark Bence-Jones in his 1978 Guide to Irish Country Houses. The house’s character changes when viewed from the garden: the main block is elongated by a long lower wing (moonlit later). This arrangement has adapted well to 21st century use: guest accommodation fills the main block while the owner David Corbett lives at the end of the wing. Five years later, his son John and daughter-in-law Hannah would take over the house. The large glasshouse attached to the wing would become a wedding reception venue.

Princess Diana famously quipped “three’s a crowd” but not when it comes to the architectural taste of 18th century Ulster squires. Tripartite windows were all the rage. Their legacy is a series of glazed triptychs framing views of the countryside. And draughts – ménage à froid. The entrance front of Tyrella has a pearly twinset of tripartite windows. Clady House in Dunadry, County Antrim, has five. Glenganagh House in Ballyholme, County Down, six. Drumnabreeze House and Grace Hall both in Magheralin, County Armagh, eight. Craigmore House in Aghagallon, County Antrim, 10. Crevenagh House in Omagh, County Tyrone, innumerable.

Tyrella’s fenestration is really special, stretching head to toe, and like Montalto outside Ballynahinch in County Down, skirts the driveway. Its regal dining room resembles “Hardwick Hall more windows than wall”. Soon, majestic silverware will sparkle in the candlelight. The princely drawing room is like being immersed in Elizabeth Bowen’s 1942 description of her home: “The few large living rooms at Bowen’s Court are, this, a curious paradox – a great part of their walls being window glass, they are charged with the light, smell and colour of the prevailing weather; at the same time they are very indoors, urbane, hypnotic, not easily left.”

Later, at the close of the day, lying in the queen size bed as the pale transitory colours of the hour fade, dreams past and future are present. Outside, through the curved glass of the oriel window, across silent lawns, the tamed headland lies submerged in shadow while the ridge of the Mourne Mountains melts into silver drifts of cloud backlit by gold, lilac, mauve and pink lining.

The designer of the house isn’t known but whoever he was, the outcome is a meeting of mind and métier, the result mellowed and augmented through the ages. Conservation architect John O’Connell remarks, “This is a very accomplished Georgian box as they used to say.” Architectural historian Nicholas Sheaff reckons “it is an incredibly elegant county house and in some ways reminds me of James Gandon’s Abbeville outside Dublin”. Art collector and tastemaker Charles Plante compliments, “I love the front dripping with ivy and the chic Regency bow window.”

Three arched openings – a window on either side of the entranceway plus the door itself – are set behind a slim Doric hexastyle portico which celebrates the triglyph’s verticality, the architrave’s horizontality and the order’s proportional totality. “It’s Tuscan Doric,” explains architectural historian and Country Life contributor Dr Roderick O’Donnell. “Tuscan is rural, countrified, perfectly correct for this type of house. The window proportions are dictated by the portico. That’s particularly attractive.”

A stained glass window of the Craig family crest in the study is a leftover from previous owners. Notable family members included the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James “Not an Inch” Craig (1st Viscount Craigavon), and his architect and yacht designer brother Vincent who combined both his skills when designing the Royal Ulster Yacht Club in Ballyholme. Janric Craig, 3rd and last Viscount Craigavon, lives in London and sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.

Vincent inserted his signature window type into Tyrella. No fewer than four oeils de boeuf grace the garden front. Charles observes, “The garden elevation is charming; the bull’s eye window in the gable is really special.” Most extraordinary of all is the first floor stained glass pane (set in a six pane casement window) which projects at an acute angle to appear permanently ajar.

David posits, “Vincent more than likely introduced the ceiling beams and light fitting in the hall. And he designed the hall fireplace. It’s very Malone Roadsy!” This airy space is painted a deep ochre which Charles calls “John Fowler orange”. Upstairs, Free Style panelling looks Vincentian. So does the recently reinstated glasshouse. Back to David, “The conservatory is actually almost entirely new except for the brickwork. It took three years to recreate. The pale green paint inside is the original colour.” Tyrella isn’t quite as Georgian as it first appears. “The middle bit behind the new Regency addition is William and Mary.” The house used to be even bigger. “My father demolished about a third of it – the cream room, jam room, butler’s pantry, the dark kitchen and so on.”

Tyrella was the seat of Reverend George Hamilton and his wife Ann Matilda, daughter of the 5th Earl of Macclesfield, at the end of the 18th century. Rural legend has it that the Reverend used the stones from the old parish church to rebuild the house in 1800. Did this slightly sacrilegious behaviour cause his downfall? He would go bust shortly afterward. Arthur Hill Montgomery bought the estate in 1831. Six years later, Samuel Lewis records in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland: “Tyrella House, the handsome residence of Arthur Hill Montgomery, is beautifully situated in a richly planted demesne of 300 acres, commanding extensive views over the bay, with the noble range of the Mourne Mountains in the background, and containing within its limits the site and cemetery of the ancient parish church.”

Arthur was the fourth son of Hugh Montgomery of Grey Abbey House on the Ards Peninsula, County Down. Bill Montgomery, a great-great-something-grandson of Hugh, still resides at Grey Abbey House with his wife Daphne. Dwelling on the past, David comments on the subject of ghosts, “I hate to disappoint you. All the people have sold the house, left, and gone on to do something else. Spent money on it, changed hands. None of them have lingered. I don’t miss ghosts – wouldn’t want one.”

It’s time to enter the dining room. Plat du jour de nuit. A love song to Northern Irish cuisine. Spinach and ricotta tartlet; stuffed sea bream; and mascarpone, raspberry and lemon tart. No spirits of any kind but plenty of Pinot Grigio (Renideo 2009) and Sauvignon Blanc (Pays d’Oc 2012). The dining experience isn’t always this tranquil according to the host. When Country Life visited in 1996, dinner was interrupted by ebullient bovine neighbours nosily emerging from between the rhododendrons. He smiles, “The magazine published ‘during dinner a herd escaped and raped the garden like a Mongol horde’. Marauding overweight rogue cattle licking the dining room windows wasn’t the look we were going for at all!”

Descendants of the previous owners, the Robert Neill and Sons Ltd dynasty, recall early 20th century life. Coline Grover says, “I lived in the house with grandparents and relatives various from 1940 until they sold it in 1949, and moved with them to Old Forge House in Malone, south Belfast. Tyrella House was wonderful with a swing house underneath the nursery wing. It was incorporated into the property and had two marks on the ceiling where if you went high enough your feet touched the ceiling! And there was a rock garden with a two storey playhouse called Spider House.”

Coline’s cousin-in-law Ian Elliott adds, “The Georgian house had a boudoir and some lovely Arts and Crafts additions – and that fabulous view to the Mournes. In the 1920s after the 1st World War it was bought by the Neill family – brothers Jack, Samuel and William – as part of their businesses of coal, construction and farming. They already owned East Downshire Fuels in Dundrum as well as Neill’s Coal in Bangor, Kingsberry Coal in Belfast, and Bloomfield Farm in Newtownards where the shopping centre is now. The family circle elected Billy Neill to live and farm there with his wife Vera. She was formerly Phelps of Kent, a direct descendant of Jane Lane who helped Charles II escape from the Battle of Worcester in the 1640s. They raised their three children there. The Corbetts, whiskey distillers from Banbridge, have owned it since 1949.” Coline’s brother Guthrie Barrett concurs that “Billy Neill sold Tyrella in 1949”.

“I haven’t been back to Tyrella House since 1949,” says nonagenarian Beresford Neill, known to all as Uncle Berry. He lives in Deramore Park, Malone, now. “A most wonderful childhood. Absolutely beautiful. Tyrella was completely and utterly the back of beyond. For goodness sake, it was completely feudal. There were no neighbours. We had our own entrance into the church next door and our own pew. My father got married in February 1917 and he bought the estate: 300 acres, a 3.5 acre walled garden, a 48 roomed house.”

He continues, “There was no electricity. In 1906 a gas heating machine was installed. It had huge pipes and a great big cage in the kitchen. There was no telephone until 1933. How Mama coped I don’t know. We’d a cook, housemaid and three gardeners. There were three bathrooms – one for staff, two for the family. We always had dogs – mostly Labradors. There was a large wood to the side of the house and a rock garden. The rocks were transported in 1890 from Scrabo to Tullymurry by train, then by horse and cart to Tyrella. It was a tremendous effort!”

“Berry reminisces, “In 1944 I enlisted as a private soldier in the Rifle Brigade. It’s now called the Rifles. It was a very swish regiment. After the War, I got transferred to Ballykinler Camp. I spent the whole of 1946 there. I’d a marvellous time! I could walk over the fields from Tyrella to Ballykinler in 10 minutes. We had the most enormous beech tree at Tyrella but a storm split it down the middle. It was sawn up by a gardener of course but a stump remained. One quiet Sunday afternoon I decided to blow up the remains of the tree. I thought I was the last word in explosives! I got seven anti-tank mines. I made a fuse and set them off. Bang! The birds stopped singing. Silence. Then … tinkle tinkle. Several of the windows in the house shattered. Sheer bloody stupidity! I should’ve opened the windows first!” Neill Guy Beresford “Berry” Campbell would die peacefully in Malone in 2020.

“We don’t usually open to paying guests in November,” admits David due to people not understanding that large Irish country houses aren’t overheated hotels. Heavy curtains and concertina shutters are good at keeping out the chills though in the guest bedrooms. A newly installed biomass boiler has added a level of contemporary comfort. “I’ve kept the 1906 boiler with its original instruction manual. It’s beautiful – like the beast of a furnace on the Titanic!” That would be Uncle Berry’s huge pipes and great big cage.

And bags at dawn. Peering over the bedroom landing, the oval staircase resembles a gargantuan pencil sharpening, a banister bordered carpeted curlicue, a variation on the Fibonacci spiral. Downstairs, breakfast is laid out country house style – buffet on the sideboard. “I do recommend Lindy Dufferin’s Greek Style Yoghurt,” says David. Historian Dr Frances Sands opined during an exclusive visit to 20 St James’s Square London, “Breakfast was the only meal of the day you served yourself. That’s why there is side furniture in the breakfast room. If there is no separate breakfast room, really then the dining room should be referred to as the eating room. There was a huge fear of odour in Georgian times. The eating room would have had no curtains, carpet or silk wall hangings. Seating would have been leather.” The dining room or rather eating room at Tyrella House was originally the billiard room.

It is impossible to leave Tyrella without mentioning the beach. The Mountains of Mourne thrillingly tower over kilometres of unspoiled golden strand between Clough and Killough. Coline Grover observes, “Tyrella Beach never changes of course.”

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Boutique Hotel Club + Hotel Heritage Bruges

The Unfolding Star

Ann Plovie of Visit Bruges introduces us to the city, “The winter season represents cosiness and heartwarming moments with family and friends. Warm World Heritage City Bruges lends itself perfectly to this. Come and soak up the atmosphere in the historic setting of charming ‘reien’ (canals), monumental architecture and picturesque streets. Sip a fragrant coffee and enjoy a sharing platter. Discover some universal stories of care and empathy at the renovated Museum St John’s Hospital. The many almshouses also illustrate the care for the citizens of Bruges throughout the centuries.”

The poet Georges Rodenbach melodramatically explains in The Death Throes of Towns (1892) how during its Golden Age the city was once accessible by sea, “Here is how the drama unfolds. Once the town was linked to the sea by the Zwin, which via Damme sent a channel of deep water as far as Bruges, a royal river, where 1700 ships sent by Philip Augustus against the Flemish and English could easily manoeuvre … One day in 1473, however, the North Sea suddenly retreated and as a result the Zwin dried up, without them being able to dredge it clear or reestablish a flow of water; and henceforth, Bruges, now at some distance from that mighty breast of the ocean which had nourished her children, began to bleed dry and for four long centuries lay in the shadow of death.”

That silting would form a quilting, a protective layer, over the historic fabric, like the deliciously preserved Sandwich in Kent, “England’s prettiest town,” according to international tastemaker Charles Plante. The city in aspic would be rediscovered in the 20th century. Architectural historian Dr Roderick O’Donnell reveals, “It was important to the Romantic Catholic archaeological tourists and scholars, especially A W N Pugin, visiting in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.” Bruges plays a major role in Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Folding Star (1994). He admires “the grand brick houses equally steeped in silence and discretion”, calling it a “beautiful little city”.

The house that is now the five star Hotel Heritage is positively recent by Bruges standards having been built in 1869 to the design of architect Louis Delacenserie. The earliest record of a house on this site does though date back to 1390. After a stint as a bank branch of Crédit Général Liégeois, it was converted into a luxury hotel. A new marble staircase and discreet lift were inserted for access to 18 en suite bedrooms on the first and second floors, and above. A top floor was added to provide four junior suites and an intimate roof terrace directly facing the Belfry, one of Bruges’s many landmarks.

As we exit our car we are greeted by name at the entrance porch. Our first floor bedroom has a balcony with horseshoe gaps in the stone balustrade overlooking Niklaas Desparsstraat (a relatively quiet street despite being a waffle’s throw from Grote Markt). Heavy bordered curtains, underbed lighting, underfloor bathroom heating, an iPad, a bowl of fruit and chocolates (this being Belgium), noon checkout … heaven’s in the detail in this European member of the Boutique Hotel Club.

Johan recalls, “In 1992, when we decided to buy and transform the building into Hotel Heritage, several factors contributed to our choice, primarily rooted in the historical significance and architectural charm of the property. The building itself carries a rich history, and we saw an opportunity to preserve and showcase its unique character. Many historic properties like ours often have a story to tell and can offer guests a sense of the past, creating a distinctive and memorable experience. We knew the neoclassical architecture and original details would add a touch of elegance and authenticity, making the hotel stand out. It’s located in the historic district near the cultural attractions.”

“We collaborated with interior designers to create a cohesive design that complements the historic building while providing modern amenities and comfort,” he adds. The first of the reception rooms, a sitting room off the entrance hall, is a cheerful upholstered avenue into another era, one of refinement, sophistication and elegance. Pictures of horses – Coronation, Cotherstone, Mameluke, Margrave, Our Nell, Plenipotentiary, Stockwell, Van Trump – hang on the floral wallpaper of the first dining room. The adjoining second dining room, also with tall windows overlooking Niklaas Desparsstraat, is rich and rightfully red (the hue that stimulates appetite and conversation). Full bodied crystal chandeliers softly illuminate the decorated painted ceilings. Two more clubby style sitting rooms are to the rear of the building, a chessboard and drinks trolley to hand.

Breakfast in the red dining room is both a buffet and table service affair, at once continental and full. It turns out to be one of the best hotel breakfasts we have ever had – and we get around. A vast chariot (trolley is much too humble a word) piled high with cold and hot delicacies dominates the floral dining room. On top of the sideboard are forests of fruit and two different types of cake each morning (apple and marmor today) and – this still being Belgium – three types of chocolate (dark, milk and white). After a Flanders cheeseboard with salmon, yoghurt, cereal, brioches, croissants, mushrooms and tomatoes it’s time for the waiter to up the ante. A spinach amuse bouche arrives followed by the hotel’s speciality poached egg on biscuit wafer. Strawberry and apple juice is in a carafe not a glass. When we lift up our china cups to drink coffee, a red butterfly is revealed on the saucers underneath (more heaven’s in the detail). Our waiter brings a chocolate mousse just in case we’re still hungry. Philippe Mallet Champagne starts the day in style.

“Begin with a visit to the Belfry of Bruges for panoramic views of the city,” Johan advises. We’re on the up. Maybe it’s the 7am Champagne but the two way spiral staircase in the 83 metre high building (equating to over 27 modern storeys) is a trial of balance and navigation. Still, the climb is worth it for the exhilarating view from the bell level gallery. At this height everything appears so homogeneously historic, revivifying Georges Rodenbach’s city of monuments amidst “the pervasive presence of the waters”.

Round a few corners from Hotel Heritage, Poortersloge is a contemporary art gallery serving as an incubator for nascent creative talent in Burghers’ Lodge which was built between 1395 and 1417. Inside, the brilliant white walls and ebon blackness of the ceilings match the monochromatic work of the 12 photographers work on display. The centrepiece of Kwart Voor Nacht (Quarter to Midnight) is a piece by the multidisciplinary Belgian artist Yves Gabriels. It’s a deconstructed biopsy: body parts and clothes fragments are arranged along a swing hanging in front of a hospital curtain. Yves suggests, “I am the surgeon in my anatomical theatre.” He creates skin using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Bruges-la-Morte-Encore-Une-Fois. It’s not for those uneasy in dynamics below mezzoforte. The cadence of the city bells can be heard beyond the huge mullioned windows. In April, the well orchestrated Bruges Triennial will bring contemporary art and installations to the streets as well, hitting all the high notes.

Johan reminisces, “I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the changes in Bruges since my upbringing in the city. Bruges has undergone a remarkable transformation, blending its rich historical heritage with a growing contemporary vibrancy. One noticeable change is the increasing global recognition and popularity of Bruges as a tourist destination. The city has gracefully embraced this influx, maintaining its charm while accommodating the diverse interests of visitors.”

He concludes, “The preservation efforts and restoration projects have been noteworthy, ensuring that the architectural gems and cultural treasures are meticulously maintained. The revitalisation of public spaces and historic buildings has added a renewed sense of vitality to the city. While change is inevitable, Bruges has admirably retained its enchanting atmosphere, and the community’s commitment to sustainability and cultural preservation has contributed to a city that continues to captivate locals and visitors alike. Overall, witnessing Bruges evolve has been a fascinating journey, and I’m excited to see how the city continues to balance its rich history with the demands of the present and future. I am happy to be able to contribute as a hotelier.” The city continues to unfold, revealing old and added layers of intricacy and delight. A new Golden Age is dawning.

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Royal Hospital Chelsea + Treasure House Fair London 2023

Back to Life

A menagerie of larger than life size bronze animals from Sladmore, some standing on the David Hockney swimming pool blue entrance floor, greets visitors to this inaugural show.

“London is the city of Europe, even the city of the world. It is still the second most important global art market and it needs a great interdisciplinary art fair.” Harry Van der Hoorn should know. He and Thomas Woodham-Smith co founded Masterpiece, the world renowned fair that ran for 13 years starting in 2010. Masterpiece almost immediately became a firm fixture of The Season. But at the beginning of this year Swiss owners MCH Group, who had secured a controlling stake in 2017, determined the fair wasn’t commercially viable. That created the unimaginable scenario that The Season – while still hosting gardening, cricket, racing, rowing, tennis and opera – would be missing art.

Deep sighs of relief could be heard echoing through the gilded postcodes when the duo launched Treasure House. Like Masterpiece, it’s in a temporary pavilion in the parkland setting of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Unlike Masterpiece, its orientation and circulation correctly face the 17th century brick building rather than the Embankment. Thomas explains, “Our choice of title reflects the wide range of disciplines and masterpieces of the fair, each piece a treasure in its own right. From my perspective as a Dutchman, ‘Treasure’ is a word that is understood throughout the world and ‘House’ is a mark of respect to the Grosvenor House Fair, a fair that inspired so many of us over the years.”

Out of the 55 exhibitors occupying 2,500 square metres of floorspace, 43 previously appeared at Masterpiece. There are 10 overseas dealers plus four that are only partly based in London. Comfortingly familiar sights include the Ventura Riva yacht this year fitted out by Gucci. The Ballyfin style transport of golf buggies through the hospital grounds has gone but the more direct pedestrian route is easy on the Louboutins. Timing has been pulled forward to the penultimate week in June which does mean the preview clashes with Glyndebourne and Ascot Ladies’ Day. Petertide is a busy time for everyone. Next year, Treasure House Fair is programmed to go back to the last week of June.

In place of Le Caprice restaurant and two Scott’s bars is Table and Candle restaurant, Robuchon Deli and Oysters and Champagne Bar. Different operators, equally good offer, same buzzy guests. Everyone is fabulously sociable, nobody is sartorially challenged. To quote the 20th century photographer Slim Aarons, it’s all about “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places”. Life is rosé at the Whispering Angel Bar. The restaurant overlooks the courtyard. The bar (Irish Ostra Regal, Jersey and Madlon oysters; Laurent-Perrier Champagne) is half indoors half in the courtyard to accommodate both the alabaster and sallow skinned.Oil on canvas is represented from Post Impressionism (Sir Stanley Cursiter at Richard Green) to Expressionistic figurative art (Frank Auerbach at Osborne Samuel). A masterpiece from the Emerald Isle is the silver gilt sideboard dish for sale by Koopman. Made by James Fray of Dublin in 1828, it was presented to Thomas 1st Baron Manners, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, by the Officers of the Court of Chancery. At 69 centimetres diameter, the sideboard dish has plenty of space for canapés.

Fine art dealer Charles Plante has been involved in the fair world for over three decades, from stalls at Chelsea Town Hall to full room displays at Grosvenor House and Olympia Fairs. He has mounted exhibitions at Stair and Co in London and Mallett’s in London and New York. Last year he held a major sale at Dreweatts featuring many items from his townhouse and country house. Star pieces included architectural drawings by Henry Holland and Thomas Sandby. Charles’ bestselling publications are Inside Out: Interiors and Exteriors 1770 to 1870 (2000), Gilt Bronze Objects 1814 to 1830 (2002) and Tools of the Trade (2006). He has since relocated his business to the US concentrating on San Francisco, selling to “upper class Americans” who buy half a dozen of his drawings or paintings at a time to create French style salons.

“I am astonished how my friend Thomas along with Harry put this fair together in four months,” comments Charles. “They have really pulled if off! I like how the pavilion faces the most famous Wren building after St Paul’s Cathedral. There’s such attention to detail: the walls suspended to a few centimetres off the floor to give the illusion of skirting boards, space age canted ceilings and uplighting set in columns. The decorative approach is avant garde and progressive. There are dealers I love here like Wartski the royal jewellers.”

Treasure House may be smaller than Masterpiece but it is a refined version with a more curatorial vision, and like its forerunner is still larger than life.

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North Great George’s Street Dublin +

Say More Things

“Dublin is so rich in neoclassical Georgian architecture, overblown and exuberant in its ‘costly magnificence’. The American Federal style was also inspired by the richness of the Irish interior architecture and the boldness of its 18th century furniture. Many fine examples can be found on the East Coast from Boston to Philadelphia.” American art collector and international tastemaker Charles Plante lives and works on either side of the Atlantic.

North Great George’s Street, north of the River Liffey in Dublin, is all about overblown scale architecture and exuberant interior plasterwork. And the owners of the houses would agree it costs a lot to look this magnificent. Since the 1970s, this street has boasted a remarkable group of owners, not least Ireland’s foremost heritage architect John O’Connell. Former Chairman of the Irish bookshop chain Eason and conservationist Harold Clarke lived on the street from the 1960s until the 1980s. The distinguished antiques dealer Willie Dillon was his neighbour at that time.

Thomas McKeown, Chairman of The North Great George’s Street Preservation Society, lives on the street with his wife Adelaide. “In 1767 Sarah Archdall began selling sites to individuals who wanted to build houses on what was then the Mount Eccles Estate. Building started shortly afterwards and North Great George’s Street was essentially completed by about 1800. Then came the Act of Union in 1801 and the relocation of the centre of fashion to the proximity of Leinster House marked the beginning of a slow decline. Indeed, by the early 1900s a group calling themselves the ‘Georgian Society’ was formed to make a historic record of the fine buildings that were apparently already doomed to destruction. This was prophetic and many of the buildings that are documented in their work have long since disappeared.”

“By the beginning of the 20th century a large part of the street was already in multi family tenements and by the mid 1960s some of the houses had been demolished. At this time there was also an increased awareness of the inherent value of our Georgian heritage. On North Great George’s Street, fine houses, needing major restoration, were available for the price of a suburban semi detached. This was recognised by a number of starry eyed individuals who saw the chance to live in a great house – this prize came at the price of much effort, often in the face of official indifference.”

“The result – appreciated by more and more people – is there to see and would probably not have succeeded if a group had not joined forces to form The North Great George’s Street Preservation Society. One of our main objectives has been to have the street designated an Architectural Conservation Area by Dublin City Council. This would prevent excessive development, particularly of the mews lanes. The reinstatement of damaged pavements and the removal of utility wires and cables on the façades is another.”

“The houses on the street are not going to revert to single family homes any time soon, but hopefully there will be a mix of good quality apartments with a limited commercial element that will maintain the vibrancy that has made it the best place in the city centre to live. The Society will continue to strive to attain these objectives and above all preserve the integrity of the street’s great architecture.”

Senator David Norris, renowned James Joyce authority, bought his house in 1978. “What initially attracted me to purchasing a Georgian house was the sense of space and the way in which light poured in through the great windows. I adore the 18th century plasterwork which decorates some of the ceilings. On top of all this, North Great George’s Street is smack bang in the middle of the city. Along the way I suppose the greatest challenge has been finance. In the beginning none of us had any great deal of money and that is when the Society proved a great support. The other thing was finding appropriate craftsmen who were capable of dealing with an 18th century building.”

Architect John Hanley and sculptor John Aboud bought their house in 1987. “Over the next 30 years we gradually turned the house around. We have always enjoyed living here, even in the early years when winter gales would sweep through the rooms. The space and the light, together with the decorative details and the views to the garden, are a constant source of pleasure. The street itself, rising in stately terraces towards Belvedere House, is a magnificent backdrop to our everyday life. And of equal importance is the fact that here we have a close knit village in the midst of the city, where we are surrounded by neighbours and friends who share our pleasure in living here, and our commitment to its future.” The North Great George’s Street Preservation Society celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2019.

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San Lorenzo Restaurant Knightsbridge London + High Society

Swimming in the Whirlpool of High Society

Who said we didn’t end up at midnight in Princess Diana’s fav Knightsbridge haunt San Lorenzo three years ago to the day? Or a month earlier join influencers for a day at the races? Or fast forward a few seasons to find ourselves singing black tied carols with London’s finest on Pall Mall till dawn? As for the maquillage, English Heritage have a lot to answer for … Tell us, what are you doing?

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Sandwich Bay + Sandwich Town Kent

Hot Property

We’ve never made a sandwich but we’ve made it to Sandwich. It’s American tastemaker Charles Plante’s favourite English town. Sandwich is filled with a relishable collection of chocolate box cottages and delicious candy coloured shops. All in very good taste of course. We’ll toast to that! Sandwich is sandwiched between Deal and Ramsgate – give or take the odd golf course (Royal St George’s) and even a country park (Pegwell Bay). But first the bay.

The Rockefeller scaled mansions of Sandwich Bay make regular appearances in Country Life, Tatler and The New York Times. They’re more East Hampton than East Kent. Great Gatsby over Great Britain. When one comes up for sale it’s like selling sunrise. Take Rest Harrow. We would. And its 14 bedrooms. It was built in 1910 for Viscount William Waldorf Astor and his wife, a certain Nancy. The Viscount’s father opened the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Nancy had form too: she was the first lady elected to the British Parliament to take her seat. Her Ladyship was a big believer in seawater: she had it piped straight into her two en suite bathrooms in the madame bedroom. Rest Harrow was recently sold for the first time in its history. Despite being surrounded by a 1.2 hectare garden, the house is gloriously exposed to the prevailing winds and onlooking flâneurs.

Strolling along the coast from Deal, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Clubhouse is the first gargantuan landmark on the landscape. Dating from 1892, an early photograph shows it as a heavily verandah’d Wild West chalet capped by a Tudor style giant gable. Architect unknown. Over the years it has been rendered almost unrecognisable – save for the gable shape – by rendering on a lavish scale and a series of elongating extensions.

Next on our jaunt Sandilands comes into sight, a vision in red brick under a hipped roof. This was bread and butter stuff for the tasteful architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, grandson of the Bishop of London (Right Reverend Charles Blomfield). His turn of last century practice had a specialism in country houses, new and revamped. Among the latter was Chequers in Buckinghamshire. Built in 1930, Sandilands’ spreadeagled plan embraces sea views from an array of angles. No doubt his client Samuel, Lord Vestey, sat on the first floor with binoculars looking at the birds going past. Sandilands is but a taste of things to come.

Rest Harrow is next and then The Dunes. This early 20th century brick house takes the plan of Sandilands and gives it wings. A butterfly blueprint. More obscure than his contemporary Sir Reginald, the well bred architect Charles Biddulph-Pinchard was still versed in country house design. His client was John Lonsdale, 1st Baron Armaghdale. Some of the original multi paned fenestration has been replaced with picture windows and with such views that’s not surprising.

The architectural feast changes with Whitehall. Surprisingly, it’s another Sir Reginald Blomfield special. Built in 1909, Whitehall has a rendered ground floor with stone detailing and a double height slate mansard filled to the rafters with a gluttony of dormers. The effect has more than a whiff of Marie-Antoinette about it, a seaside cottage orné on serious steroids.

Last of the big houses straddling the coast riding high on the waves of success comes Kentlands. We love spilling the beans. All 600 square metres of this house was built for the Heinz family. They might have been American but you don’t get more English that Kentlands. This time Charles Biddulph-Pinchard recycled two 17th century timber framed houses, threw in a barn for the fun of it, and the result is as if a piece of Chester fell from the sky and landed in, well, Kent. These five houses were to be part of a new seaside resort but World War I put paid to that. Instead, a glorious sparseness, an extravagance of hectarage very far from the madding crowd, triumphs.

Sandwich: The Story of a Famous Kentish Port published in 1907 is the 63rd book in the slightly sinister titled series The Homeland Handbooks. Editor Arthur Anderson raves, “Within easy reach of the popular and growing watering places of northeast Kent lies a town which should be visited by everyone with a regard for things ancient and beautiful, with a mind that would be affected by historic associations, and with emotions that can be touched by the story of a brave but chequered existence. Sandwich lies among the marshes left by the sea on its retirement from the bluffs of Richborough and Minster. Placed here among the flats, it is one of the sunniest towns in England. From horizon to horizon there is no single elevation to cast a shadow or to intercept the sunshine. Only when clouds are riding and sea winds sweeping over, are the brightest colours of the town and its gleaming belt of meadow and river obscured. Since the harbour sealed up – and not all the pathetic efforts of the townsmen served to avert the disaster – Sandwich has ceased to play the part to which it was accustomed in earlier days. But its bygone importance and wealth are attested by the remains that give it a picturesqueness such as few places can rival.”

The Pellicane House on High Street is one of the larger houses in Sandwich town centre. It’s a sweet confection of the ages: the 15th century original house was given a makeover 200 years later followed by a Georgian upgrade. The flint faced façade displays a charming symmetry gone somewhat awry and is crowned by a castellated parapet. Marie-Laure Frioux, originally from Nantes, brings French elegance to Market Street with her antiques shop Fleur de France. As for Charles Plante, he’s been an art and antiques dealer in London and America for three decades. He summarises his taste as, “Ruins, urns, neoclassical landscapes and interiors; evocations in paint, pencil and watercolour of the ancient world… neoclassical furniture, porcelain and bronzes – all have been my passion for the past 30 years.”

The Butchery, Cattle Market, Fellowship Walk, Love Lane, Pillory Gate and Moat Sole all beg intrigue and further exploration. Bringing the beach inland, putting the sand in Sandwich, our lunch is at Tan Bueno on New Street which advertises itself as “Costa del Sandwich”. It’s the Canary Islands come to the environs of the Isle of Thanet. There are no sandwiches on the menu. Just tapas, the best thing since sliced bread.

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Musée Nissim de Camondo Paris + Winter

L’Assez Grand Trianon
It’s time to get MAD (Musée des Arts Décoratifs) and go Camondo. The 4th Edition of the Michelin Guide to Paris (1960) states, “The building and its contents were left to the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs by the Comte de Camondo in 1936, in memory of his son Nissim, killed during the 1st World War. The visit will fascinate amateurs of 18th century furniture and works of art. The museum is arranged as an elegant 18th century home, and is furnished with remarkably sure taste and objects of great beauty.” An explosive profusion of riches.

It’s international art dealer and collector Charles Plante’s favourite house museum. Amsterdam boasts Museum van Loon. Barcelona has Casa Amattler. Lisbon, Medeiros e Almeida House. London, the Wallace Collection. Musée Nissim de Camondo was designed by architect Réne Sergent taking inspiration from Le Petit Trianon in Versailles; it backs onto Parc Monceau in the 8th Arrondisement. In Letters to Comondo, 2021, artist Edmund de Waal describes Parc Monceau as being “… in the English manner with a little lake and bridge and smart flowerbeds full of annual flowers that need to be tended and renewed and weeded so that there are always gardeners head down and meandering paths…”

This three story house built in 1911 to 1914 by divorced financier Moïse de Camondo is separated from the street by a typical Parisian courtyard. The stern steel coloured paint of the casement window frames contrasts with the welcoming honeyed hue of the stone façade. A relatively flat front – a three bay central set back flanked by single bay chamfered links leading to single bay projections – conceals an intricate layout: a butterfly plan spreads out to the rear towards Parc Monceau. This arrangement creates a jigsaw to be filled with geometrically varied rooms within the confines of the external walls.

All three floors are on show from the functional (bathrooms with porcelain sanitaryware by Kula) to the decorative (the Porcelain Room with more Sèvres than a Rosalind Savill book launch) and a collection of salons in between all linked by a fantastical marble staircase hall. The Buste de Négress by sculptor Pierre-Philippe Thomire in the dining room is just one of a myriad pieces of period art. Being here. Doing it. Incessant winter rain emboldens the colour of the stonework, softens the light, intensifies the ambience, creating ghosts in the shadows.

Such beauty from such tragedy. In 1944, Nissim’s only sibling, Béatrice, the last surviving Camondo, and her family were killed by the Nazis for being Jews in 1944. The Camondo family tree was ripped asunder, a dynasty destroyed. The house museum resonates with happier times though. A menu card for déjeuner on the dining room table is dated 2 June 1933: “Melon glacé; Filets de soles Murat; Pouleta pochés à l’estragon; Ris créole; Pièce de boeuf à la gelée; Salade de romaine; Petits pois à la Française; Paillettes au parmesan; Fromage; Granit à la cerise.” Lunch, 11 years earlier…