A trip to Frankfurt to attend Heimtextil a week from today has inspired me to share one of my favorite anecdotes about Henry VIII and…
View More Henry VIII’s Cult of ClothTag: England
England is one of my favorite countries to visit, London a draw, of course, but the countryside equally alluring with the grand country houses and elaborate gardens.
I highlight one trip to the countryside near Eton in The Sens of Beauty, in which I look back at my design journalism career and celebrate a gorgeous Dorchester Collection property called Coworth Park. I wrote the piece for Interiors Magazine, feeling as if I had been dropped into a Merchant Ivory production at the hotel, Originally built by prosperous East Indian merchant William Shephard in 1776, the Georgian mansion house—which is predated only by the Coworth Park’s Dower House, built in 1775—is the centerpiece of the estate, which passed through the ownership of an extensive list of lords and ladies during the intervening two-plus centuries, a roster that includes the Earl of Derby who owned it during the early half of the 19th century.
In the mid 1980’s, the estate became a hub for polo when Galen Weston, the owner of Selfridges and Fortnam and Mason, bought it, transforming it into an epicenter for high-goal matches replete with classically designed stables for his pampered ponies. Prince Jefri, the brother of the Sultan of Brunei, purchased the estate in England in 1995 and expanded its presence as a posh polo destination. By the time the Dorchester Collection snapped up the property, the buildings and gardens were far from pristine. “It had, quite literally, fallen to bits,” remarks designer Martin Hulbert of Fox Linton Associates, whose task it was to bring the estate back to life. And so he did: quite gloriously, in fact!
Heaven Shall Be Here
In the film A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman, who plays an unlikely Louis XIV, declares, “Heaven shall be here.” He’s speaking of a ballroom he…
View More Heaven Shall Be HereThe Seat of Scottish Power
As the opening credits roll during the film Her Majesty, Mrs Brown, a Markino marble bust, which has been tossed over a castle’s ramparts, tumbles…
View More The Seat of Scottish PowerCelebrating Shakespeare
Celebrating Shakespeare The 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death is April 23rd, the date he passed in 1616 at the age of 52 believed to…
View More Celebrating ShakespeareThe Built Legacy of Henry VIII
The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…
View More The Built Legacy of Henry VIIII Met Virginia Woolf in This Room
Who else is relieved that Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is finally finding happiness on Downton Abbey? Having binged on all of the…
View More I Met Virginia Woolf in This RoomRenovating During the Tudor Era
Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Looking back to the Tudor Era from this great distance, it’s easy to see how barbaric a sport jousting was.…
View More Renovating During the Tudor EraOne Special Summer with Jackie O
Hegel’s caveat “history teaches us nothing” may be relevant in cultural and philosophical realities but in the design world the statement is far from succinct.…
View More One Special Summer with Jackie OTimothy Oulton Design Adventurer
“As the momentous words ‘England is now, therefore, in a state of war with Germany’ came somberly over the radio, Major James Bigglesworth, D.S.O., better…
View More Timothy Oulton Design AdventurerFurnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard…
View More Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII