Of all the 7 deadly sins, my favourite must be Envy.
I have no shame in occasionally being envious of others, especially when it comes to architecture.
There are several periods of English architecture which count amongst my, and most Englishmen's, favourites.... Tudor, Elizabethan, and probably the most popular, Georgian.
My own preference is for Elizabethan architecture (1550-1600 aprox), with Sissinghurst being one of the best domestic examples.
Sissinghurst was famously bought in 1930 by gardener Vita Sackville-West and her diplomat husband Harold Nicholson. It was almost in ruin when they purchased the house, and they spent years restoring and redesigning both it, and the garden.
The stone mullioned windows, coupled with mellow bricks and tiles, give the house (castle) a warmth that has never since been paralleled in English architecture.
Inside every (well, almost every) Englishman/woman lies dreams of an Elizabethan manor/farmhouse. There are two problems here; there probably aren't enough to go round, and most of us couldn't afford them anyway. Still, we can always dream.
I love stone mullioned windows. Modern architecture leaves me cold - just a load of glass cubes!
ReplyDeleteI like The Pompidou Centre in Paris, but the 'taller, glassier, sillier' school of modern architecture leaves me equally cold.
DeleteVita had a varied sex life. I bet they had good parties at Sissinghurst. It really rocked.
ReplyDeleteShe was a lesbian, and he was gay; the perfect married couple!
DeleteA lovely piece of architecture Cro, be as you say far out of the reach of the 'ordinary' man. Ho hum back to dreaming it is .....
ReplyDeleteThere certainly aren't enough to go around, but an old customer of mine has just bought one and I am to have a hand in it's restoration/conservation. I don't think I will be inheriting it though.
ReplyDeleteAt least by being involved in its restoration, you'll be a part of its history. Better than nothing.
DeleteThat's what I thought, until I saw the pressed-steel radiators painted with mock-tudorbeams.
DeleteAnd you can always look.
ReplyDeleteFor some reasons I'm reminded that I drove past a hotel in Mallorca that was tall and wide but it seemed only one room thickness and had no windows at the back. I wondered if it would topple over.
ReplyDeleteCould easily move in if someone else would foot the bill.
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ReplyDeleteSissinghurst is so beautiful ….. we have only ever lived in old houses ….. nothing on that scale, but our own little piece of English history. XXXX
ReplyDeleteI would never live in a modern house. They don't have the character I need.
DeleteIt's a fabulous time of year to visit it. The daffs are a glorious display there in the spring.
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