Just came across this story from Houzz about a new exhibition in New York City that opens today, the 18th, and runs through January 31st at 218 W. 57th. Having visited Highclere Castle--where the Downton Abbey series was filmed--the exhibition fills in some of the show-oriented details that aren't evident when visiting the historic house. Click on the photo below for the complete story.

Downton Abbey: The Exhibition
When: Nov. 18 through Jan. 31, 2018
Where: 218 W. 57th St., New York City
Cost: Starts at $30

Once again we take a brief moment to talk about one of the books in our collection; I have wanted this for some time, but was only recently able to obtain it on Ebay for a low price. Always a great fan of Country Life, I collected many issues years ago when it was commonly available at the local news stand (I never could bring myself to spring for an annual subscription) and I still keep some of these scattered about in the house. Lacking more recent issues, I was happy to report a successful effort to grab a single copy at Heathrow before we returned home from our recent UK trip.

I finished reading this book right before we left, and though it certainly relates a lively and interesting story of the magazine’s history and significance, it does an excellent job of weaving that history into a vivid panorama of Britain during the last 100 (now 120) years. It’s hard for me to imagine that this book has actually been out for so long; nevertheless, the subject matter is as essential today as it was in 1997. With a fairly substantial production run, it is still easily available from online booksellers such as Amazon and Abebooks.

As one might expect, the photography—which was primarily pulled from the magazine’s archives—is excellent. The vintage black-and-white images are so expressive and so “of their time” that they capture the feeling of their era in a way that modern color photography cannot.

Once surprising aspect of the book, and this is a tribute to Sir Roy Strong, is that it is an easy and comfortable read; though it is large and fairly substantial, the average reader would be able to get through it straightaway. The author pulls no punches in his observations regarding the magazine and its editorial positions; though helpful in preserving the country’s heritage and great estates in its early decades, he describes them as outdated and reactionary in the post war period.

Controversies aside, the book provides a useful record of the magazine’s history and outlines its role as a cultural icon. Outlining a long list of editors and contributors (including Strong himself) and surveying 100 years of social change, editorial policies, preservation issues and matters of taste, this book provides a great insight into a central period of English architectural and social history.

Country Life, 1897-1997  An English Arcadia
Hardcover: 128 pages
ISBN-10: 0752210548
ISBN-13: 978-0752210544
Product Dimensions:  11.8 x 9.2 x 1 inches

About one hundred years ago, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. co-founder F.A. Seiberling and his family were getting ready to move into their new home, the magnificent Tudor Revival mansion known as Stan Hywet Hall.

This year, the estate — now a public museum and gardens — is celebrating it’s 100th birthday with a series of special events, exhibits and specialty tours.

The 65,000-square-foot manor house is the sixth-largest historic home open to the public in the United States. The Tudor revival structure contains more than 21,000 panes of glass, 23 fireplaces, and intricately hand-carved wood paneling — so typical of the the luxury available to the Rubber Barons of Akron and other successful industrialists. Amazingly, the home still features 95 percent of the original furnishings chosen by the Seiberlings and their decorators.

Along with the special events, Stan Hywet Hall is launching a multi-million dollar campaign to help fund ongoing restoration work. Here are some of the events planned for 2015:

• The twice-daily “Blueprints to Bricks,” a tour focusing on the planning and construction of the estate and manor house, which required 3,000 blueprints and architectural drawings. Tour guests will visit areas and spaces not usually accessible to the public.

• “Picturing the Past,” 15 oversize photographs of the property dating from 1912 to 1915 to be exhibited outdoors on certain days during the summer. Each picture will be positioned at the photographer’s original vantage point on the grounds, allowing visitors a “now-and-then” perspective of the estate.

• The artistic installation “Bloom!,” opening June 2 in the gardens. Glass artist Craig Mitchell Smith, whose work is displayed at public gardens and arboretums throughout the country, will install 32 larger-than-life sculptures, many of them inspired by Stan Hywet. The sculptures — featuring botanical and nature themes, such as Tudor Rose— will be installed in the Breakfast Room Garden; and Butterflies of Northern Ohio, near the butterfly habitat.

• “Twilight & Flashlights,” an evening garden tour on six summer evenings in August and September. The offering will allow visitors to see “Bloom!” in a different light. All the pieces in the glass exhibit will be offered for public sale.

• The official 100th anniversary celebration, scheduled for Aug. 16 as part of Stan Hywet’s Community Day. The event will include free tours, a concert by the Goodyear Band, an antique car show, a vintage baseball game, and historic interpretations by the History First Hand acting troupe. Admission is free for registered guests.

• Several living-history days; “Woof Walk” days, for pet owners and their leashed dogs; the annual Father’s Day Classic antique car show; a gala Shakespearean ball and the annual Ohio Shakespeare Festival; and the Deck the Hall yuletide light and decoration show

About one hundred years ago, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. co-founder F.A. Seiberling and his family were getting ready to move into their new home, the magnificent Tudor Revival mansion known as Stan Hywet Hall.

This year, the estate — now a public museum and gardens — is celebrating it’s 100th birthday with a series of special events, exhibits and specialty tours.

The 65,000-square-foot manor house is the sixth-largest historic home open to the public in the United States. The Tudor revival structure contains more than 21,000 panes of glass, 23 fireplaces, and intricately hand-carved wood paneling — so typical of the the luxury available to the Rubber Barons of Akron and other successful industrialists. Amazingly, the home still features 95 percent of the original furnishings chosen by the Seiberlings and their decorators.

Along with the special events, Stan Hywet Hall is launching a multi-million dollar campaign to help fund ongoing restoration work. Here are some of the events planned for 2015:

• The twice-daily “Blueprints to Bricks,” a tour focusing on the planning and construction of the estate and manor house, which required 3,000 blueprints and architectural drawings. Tour guests will visit areas and spaces not usually accessible to the public.

• “Picturing the Past,” 15 oversize photographs of the property dating from 1912 to 1915 to be exhibited outdoors on certain days during the summer. Each picture will be positioned at the photographer’s original vantage point on the grounds, allowing visitors a “now-and-then” perspective of the estate.

• The artistic installation “Bloom!,” opening June 2 in the gardens. Glass artist Craig Mitchell Smith, whose work is displayed at public gardens and arboretums throughout the country, will install 32 larger-than-life sculptures, many of them inspired by Stan Hywet. The sculptures — featuring botanical and nature themes, such as Tudor Rose— will be installed in the Breakfast Room Garden; and Butterflies of Northern Ohio, near the butterfly habitat.

• “Twilight & Flashlights,” an evening garden tour on six summer evenings in August and September. The offering will allow visitors to see “Bloom!” in a different light. All the pieces in the glass exhibit will be offered for public sale.

• The official 100th anniversary celebration, scheduled for Aug. 16 as part of Stan Hywet’s Community Day. The event will include free tours, a concert by the Goodyear Band, an antique car show, a vintage baseball game, and historic interpretations by the History First Hand acting troupe. Admission is free for registered guests.

• Several living-history days; “Woof Walk” days, for pet owners and their leashed dogs; the annual Father’s Day Classic antique car show; a gala Shakespearean ball and the annual Ohio Shakespeare Festival; and the Deck the Hall yuletide light and decoration show

Even though the local Council in Kilburn said NO to a request to demolish a historic pub and replace it with flats for rent, two bulldozers tore into Carlton Tavern in Carlton Vale, destroying its shell and all its contents.

Patsy Lord, the pub’s landlady, had no idea the building was to be demolished. She explained to newspapers that she was told “the pub was to be temporarily closed due to inventory.”

Previously, the property owner had presented a plan to demolish and replace the existing pub with a new building, to include pub at ground level and 10 residential units. That plan had been rejected on the basis that the bulk, height and detailed design of the new development “would be detrimental to the view from the adjacent Maida Vale Conservation Area and view from the nearby recreation ground” where it was a gateway to the park.

A council spokeswoman confirmed to the Times the demolition had taken place without permission and enforcement officers had attended the scene once they were alerted.

Unfortunately, even if a revised plan is put in place, the possibility of re-using the old pub’s historic furnishings and fixtures is no longer a possibility, since they were destroyed in the demolition. Likewise, it’s hard to imagine a new structure matching the old pub’s charm and architectural character.

You can read and see more HERE.

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Los Angeles: Writer Pen Densham sells Windsor Square-area home for $2.75 million

The Los Angeles Times reports that Densham's English Manor-style home, built in 1906, was moved to its current location from Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. This was done by the Bullock family — popular department store owners — earning it the name Bullock House. An oversized entry with beamed ceilings leads to the living room, library, formal dining room and carved-wood staircase. There are eight bedrooms, 71/2 bathrooms and a basement.


Pricing a Critical Element in Country House Sales

According to Country Life Online, buyers are becoming much more choosy in today’s country house market, and insisting on value for money. According to Ed Sugden of buying agents Property Vision, fewer purchasers are looking to buy a country property in February 2012 than there were at the same time last year-up to 40% fewer in some areas. So, it's become critical that sellers get their pricing right if they want their property to get a second look-or even a first look.

"With second-home buyers unlikely to figure much in 2012, in my view, only three types of property will attract buyers. These are houses of exceptional quality, family homes within driving distance of a popular prep school and previously unsold houses that have had their prices reduced sufficiently for buyers to feel they're getting a really good deal," Mr Sugden says. "In fact, purchasers now expect value for money whatever they're buying." [more]


New light shed on the history of Tenby and its 16th Century boom

Once one of Wales’ busiest ports, with bustling trade being done on nearby streets, Tenby is an attractive town that has seen new light shed on cues relating to Tenby’s boom time in the 16th century after it was discovered a previously unknown silversmith was operating in the town.

Research commissioned by the National Trust about the Tudor Merchant’s House on Quay Hill led to the amazing find that a silversmith was trading in Tenby in the early 1500s, something that had not previously been suspected. The research is being conducted to discover the name of the merchant who lived and traded at the Tudor Merchant’s House, but in the process, an number of other new and significant finds about the town’s history are being made. [more]


Exhibition: Photography and the Royal Family 1840-1880

Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter will explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's interest in photography as collectors. This lecture also shows them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and ‘celebrities'. [at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter] [more]



Letter informing Henry VIII of his longed-for son's birth is found after 469 years in stately home
A letter from Jane Seymour telling her husband Henry VIII that his longed-for son had been born has been uncovered at a stately home. The message announcing the birth of future King Edward VI was found carefully preserved on a shelf in the picture store room at Dunham Massey estate in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It had gone unnoticed since the house was handed to the National Trust in 1976 because it was written in Old English... [more]

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Los Angeles: Writer Pen Densham sells Windsor Square-area home for $2.75 million

The Los Angeles Times reports that Densham's English Manor-style home, built in 1906, was moved to its current location from Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. This was done by the Bullock family — popular department store owners — earning it the name Bullock House. An oversized entry with beamed ceilings leads to the living room, library, formal dining room and carved-wood staircase. There are eight bedrooms, 71/2 bathrooms and a basement.


Pricing a Critical Element in Country House Sales

According to Country Life Online, buyers are becoming much more choosy in today’s country house market, and insisting on value for money. According to Ed Sugden of buying agents Property Vision, fewer purchasers are looking to buy a country property in February 2012 than there were at the same time last year-up to 40% fewer in some areas. So, it's become critical that sellers get their pricing right if they want their property to get a second look-or even a first look.

"With second-home buyers unlikely to figure much in 2012, in my view, only three types of property will attract buyers. These are houses of exceptional quality, family homes within driving distance of a popular prep school and previously unsold houses that have had their prices reduced sufficiently for buyers to feel they're getting a really good deal," Mr Sugden says. "In fact, purchasers now expect value for money whatever they're buying." [more]


New light shed on the history of Tenby and its 16th Century boom

Once one of Wales’ busiest ports, with bustling trade being done on nearby streets, Tenby is an attractive town that has seen new light shed on cues relating to Tenby’s boom time in the 16th century after it was discovered a previously unknown silversmith was operating in the town.

Research commissioned by the National Trust about the Tudor Merchant’s House on Quay Hill led to the amazing find that a silversmith was trading in Tenby in the early 1500s, something that had not previously been suspected. The research is being conducted to discover the name of the merchant who lived and traded at the Tudor Merchant’s House, but in the process, an number of other new and significant finds about the town’s history are being made. [more]


Exhibition: Photography and the Royal Family 1840-1880

Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter will explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's interest in photography as collectors. This lecture also shows them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and ‘celebrities'. [at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter] [more]



Letter informing Henry VIII of his longed-for son's birth is found after 469 years in stately home
A letter from Jane Seymour telling her husband Henry VIII that his longed-for son had been born has been uncovered at a stately home. The message announcing the birth of future King Edward VI was found carefully preserved on a shelf in the picture store room at Dunham Massey estate in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It had gone unnoticed since the house was handed to the National Trust in 1976 because it was written in Old English... [more]

Luckily, Akron still has Stan Hywet Hall, but it wasn't the only great English-style home built by one of the city's rubber barons. Though not quite as large, nor as architecturally significant as Frank Seiberling's home, Harvey Firestone's Harbel Manor was still an exquisite house, loaded with many impressive design features. Firestone loved to entertain his many friends there, including Henry Ford, and he died there in his sleep on February 7th, 1938.


Firestone originally built the house in 1912, placing it on 60 acres in West Hill, which was on the outskirts of Akron at the time. Reportedly, he had to borrow the funds for both the land and the house because he was often cash-starved as a result of always re-investing his money back into his tire company. In his book, The American Country House, Clive Aslet noted that Firestone himself once reflected: "Why is it that a man, just as soon as he gets enough money, builds a house much bigger than he needs?"

On her Q&A blog, Highland Square Neighborhood Association Board Member Rosemary Reymann goes on to tell the story of Harbel Manor:

"The Harvey Firestone Mansion, Harbel Manor, was at the site of [the current] Georgetown Condominiums, with the polo field at the site of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. You can still see the wall for Harbel Manor at the northwest corner of West Market and Twin Oaks. Torn down in 1959, the house was of the Free English Manorial style, designed by architects Harpster & Bliss, with a sensitive addition in 1916 on the north side by architects Trowbridge & Ackerman. The landscape architect was Alling S. DeForest. There is a model of the mansion in the Archives of the University of Akron, housed in the basement of the Polsky's Building."

While it's truly unfortunate that this great home could not be preserved, the loss of the building is really no surprise. Torn down during a time when such huge homes were commonly seen as money-guzzling white elephants - and before it was common to re-use such structures as offices - it's doubtful that the Akron community would have been able to support and maintain two large historic houses like Stan Hywet and Harbel Manor.

The special Sept. 21 Google home page art made me take notice, and though a futuristic writer like H.G. Wells may seem a little out of place on these pages, he remains a staple of Edwardian thought, as well as one of my favorite writers. Surprisingly, it was this photo of him (left) standing in the doorway of this nice, solid-looking English house which caught my notice, and which inspired me to take a little longer look at this writer's world.

For example, I did not know that Wells attended free lectures on socialism at Kelmscott House. I knew he was an early enthusiast of miniature wargames - I have a copy of Little Wars - and I also have the two volume set of his compact Outline of History, which I sadly admit I have not read as yet.

What really surprised me was the fact that after writing the Time Machine in 1895, Wells came to Sandgate in 1896 for the benefit of his health. Enjoying the life there, he commissioned C.F.A. Voysey to build a house in a commanding position overlooking the sea; so it follows that Wells is standing in the doorway of what clearly appears to be a Voysey house. This home (above) known as Spade House, became one of the literary centers of the world in Edwardian times. While living at Spade House, Wells wrote books such as Kipps, Tono-Bungay and Ann Veronica.

One interesting side note - it may be remembered that Voysey usually placed a signature heart motif on the door of every home he designed, but Wells reportedly did not want a heart, so the heart was replaced by a spade motif - thus the name. The house is now utilized as a nursing home.