Catherine Scotto’s journey to discover the owners of French châteaux listed as heritage sites in locales throughout the country can be described as nothing less…
View More French Chateau StyleTag: historic castles
Who doesn’t love the idea of historic castles? Though I fantasize about living in one, I’m not sure I could handle the intimidation of the scale.
But that doesn’t keep me from immersing myself in the idea of them for literary design adventures. For instance, I’ve featured the built environments that Henry VIII achieved a number of times here on the blog because he was instrumental in the preservation of a number of historic castles. One of these is Hampton Court Palace, which served as a hotbed of activity for his court once he had wrested the property from Cardinal Wolsey.
Though the architecture is on a truly grand scale, the furniture—as was the custom of the day—is lacking so I took myself on a bit of a literary design adventure and furnished it with antiques I found on the Lorford’s Antiques site. I use Nicola Shulman’s book Graven with Diamonds as my muse for the settings required to allow the King to romance his chosen one, Anne Boleyn, while rumors were flying that she was also romancing Sir Thomas Wyatt.
Far smarter and better-informed people than I have peered back into history to ascertain if these two were in fact lovers without gaining conclusive answers, Shulman among these, so I leave that debate in their hands. What I concentrate on is using the chosen courtiers as characters in a little dramatization being played out with and upon a few pieces of fabulous furniture. I have a number of literary design adventures under this tag so I if you enjoy stories about or set within historic castles, I hope you’ll stop by.
Seasons at Highclere
Movie sets that have inflamed the imagination with fairy-tale encounters taking place during the great eras in which luxury ruled are plentiful. But most of…
View More Seasons at HighclereThe Architecture of Chivalry
This essay about the built legacy of Henry VIII is included in my new book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More The Architecture of ChivalryThe Tapestry of History
In just a few hours, the modern ideal of a fairy tale wedding will take place at Windsor Castle. A trip I took to the…
View More The Tapestry of HistoryThe Personality of Place
So, this is how it feels to experience a medieval Tuscan village that has existed on a hillside in some form for almost 1000 years!…
View More The Personality of PlaceFar from Oblivious in Bologna
If you find yourself strolling along the streets of Bologna near the city’s center, don’t be surprised if you turn a corner and come upon…
View More Far from Oblivious in BolognaHenry VIII’s Cult of Cloth
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 ClothTransitory Spaces
The beginning of one of Napoléon Bonaparte’s earliest letters to Joséphine de Beauharnais simply oozes sensuality: “Seven in the morning. I awaken full of you…the…
View More Transitory SpacesThe 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 PowerThe 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 VIII