When you daydream, what do you dream about?
Building began in 1680 but was not completed until the 1750's; the red salon has been maintained to look exactly as it did when decorated in 1780, with only two refurbishments of the upholstery and wallpaper, in 1870 and 1970.
The great hall is breathtaking: 70 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 40 feet high.
And the tromp l'oeil murals by artist Grant Rust took 14 years to complete (1969-1983), but the results are more than worth the effort. Check out this video of his work at Ragley, and set the video to play at 480 pixels. Wow is all I can say.
Home to the Marquess and Marchioness of Hertford, the house and gardens are open to the public if you're ever in the neighborhood. Believe it or not, there are plenty of even grander houses over there, but none prettier that I've seen or heard tell of.
I know, it's not the kind of shack you'd ever expect to find an old shitkicker like me in. But still, it shore is purty to look at, ain't it boys?
5 comments:
I think that's Graham Rust IIRC - an incredibly talented gay man.
Why am I not surprised. "It takes a fairy to make something pretty . . . " Grin.
His work is just stunningly beautiful.
I love places like this too Russ. There's the Doris Duke estate near me in Somerset NJ that I'm dying to see when it reopens again. It's Georgian and nowhere near as palacial as this place but it's a sight to see with it's gardens and greenhouses.
It's fun to dream of how it must be to be able to afford a place like this. They have some similiar to this also up in Rhode Island too.
I'm afraid it takes a fairy to know who he is ... ;-)
Yup, Dave, it always takes one to know one. Grin.
Stan yes fun to dream about those places. Not sure I'd want the headache of actually running one, all the upkeep and expenses. But I guess if you could afford a house like that you could afford to hire someone to deal with all the headaches of it too. Grin.
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