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Time for another Architecture/History thread if anyone is interested. I used to work at a wonderful National Trust Property called @AttinghamParkNT Many grand houses employ various methods to fool visitors into thinking they are grander and made from more expensive materials 1/
So Attingham is really no exception. However, it does have many fascinating tricks all rolled into one house and landscape to be an excellent example of this. So first, let’s start with the basics. What is the house built out of? 2/
Grinshill Sandstone? Certainly the front is an impressive facade of that material. But what about round the back? You will notice that all the bits that distinguished visitors wouldn’t see are in brick. 3/
Even so far as to decorate the tops of the building in sandstone incase they were seen from afar whilst promanading through the pleasure grounds. So the house is built in brick then? 4/
In some places yes. But essentially Attingham is a timber framed house. For speed and cost a timber frame was thrown up and expensive stone hung off the front and bits people would see. In places round the back they hung tiles off the frame to imitate brick. 5/
A brief side note to explain Attingham’s shape. It wasn’t the first home on the site. The first home on the site was a more modest but comfortable home called Tern Hall. 6/
Eventually this house didn’t match the family’s ambitions and certainly was no match for their cousins at Hawkstone Hall (pictured). So a new house was needed. They employed the Architect George Steuart to build them something new. 7/
So a grander mansion was wrapped around the old Tern Hall. 8/
This created a problem. The necessary height of the new house to obscure the old house completely meant it’s proportions were off. The columns on the portico in particular were painfully tall and thin. What to do? 9/
George Steuart’s solution was a simple trick of the eye. By adding two long wings with pavilions on the end he could stretch the facade and force the proportions into a more pleasing ratio. 10/
Time to head inside to see what tricks the house has for us. (That is Martin by the way, a former colleague of mine. Farmer, Actor, Writer of excellent plays and pantos, Tour Guide) 11/
We arrive (unsurprisingly) in the Entrance Hall. A magnificent symmetrical (excluding the later staircase) room, essentially decorated “en grisaille” (in shades of grey). With marble walls, columns and friezes, and niches housing classical statues. Or is it? 12/
The walls are actually painted in imitation of marble. The statues, friezes and even the niches themselves are all Trompe-l'œil 2D paintings. Even the columns are made from scagliola, a polished composite material made to look like marble. 13/
You can’t even trust the doors. The doors in the corner are false doors. Put in purely to maintain the symmetry of the room. 14/
Some people may think the scheme in this room is a little dull. This is deliberate. As with life you need the lows to appreciate the highs, so it is with architecture. By having a subdued scheme in here it makes the colour in the main reception rooms ping out all the more 15/
We pass through into the magnificent Drawing Room. 16/
What’s that, a door straight in front of us? This must be the first in a magnificent enfilade of rooms. Well no. It’s a false door. It serves the dual purpose of offering balance to the room and implying there are more rooms beyond. There isn’t. That’s an external wall. 17/
We will skip through the Sultana Room and East Ante Room and step into the gorgeous Boudoir. A round room with doors leading off in all directions. 18/
Well no. Once again we have some (though not all) false doors and one hides a cupboard full of shells and curiosities. 19/
Side note. Though boudoir is often used now to refer to a bedroom it’s original use was a ladies private sitting room. The name derives from the French “bouder” (to sulk). It’s said that the French kings many mistresses, when not centre of his affections, would retire to 20/
Their private sitting room to sulk. They became known as the boudoir, the sulking room. 21/
That’s it for tonight. Back tomorrow to see what tricks the rest of the house and grounds have to offer. 21a/
