Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed that geraniums seem to bloom profusely inside many a charming English country house? They certainly did at Daylesford, the John Fowler-decorated house of Lord Rothermere, seen above.

And at Deene Park, Northamptonshire.

Nancy Lancaster had some scraggly ones at the Coach House.

More lush were those at Bentley in Sussex.

There were some tucked away near the bookshelves at Wellingham House.

Nicky Haslam has a basket full of them at his Hunting Lodge...

...while Lady Caroline Somerset chose a terracotta pot for her fiery crimson specimen.

David Hicks supercharged his Britwell House dining room with bold crimson walls and curtains and bright pink geraniums placed directly on the floor.

But what has to be one of the most charming displays of geraniums is seen in this bedroom, which was decorated by David Mlinaric.  The chintz? Colefax & Fowler's " Climbing Geranium", sadly discontinued.

The Stately Shugborough

I recently stumbled upon a 1969 copy of The Great Houses and Finest Rooms of England. Written by the late British House & Garden editor Robert Harling, the book profiles some of England's most beautiful stately homes including Hatfield House, Charlecote Park, Blenheim Palace, Leixlip Castle, and Sezincote. The book (which is now on my top twenty list of favorite books- it's that good) is an interesting mix of interior and exterior photos plus text that includes interviews conducted with each of the estate's owners. Downton Abbey fans take note: as these interviews took place during the late 1960s, the then-owners (including the Duke of Marlborough, The Marquess of Salisbury, and the Duke of Argyll) recall what life was like at their respective homes during the early part of the 20th century, a time when houses were tended to by large staffs like those at the fictional Downton Abbey.

If you're also a fan of John Fowler and David Mlinaric, then you're really in luck. The work of both designers appears in this book, including the Mlinaric designed private quarters of Shugborough, a Staffordshire estate once owned by the Earl of Lichfield. That's him, below, with his Swinging Sixties hair and attire. (Lord Lichfield was a prominent celebrity photographer whose professional name was Patrick Lichfield.) I'm showing a few photographs of Shugborough here so that you can get a taste of this book. If you're as enchanted by these country estates as I, then you should try to get your hands on a copy so that you can see it for yourself.



Lord Lichfield




The Bird Room




Lord Lichfield's bedroom





The private study.




The circular breakfast room.




A guest bedroom.









Two of the estate's follies, the Temple of the Winds and the Doric Temple, were built by James "Athenian" Stuart. The Chinese House was transported from the Far East by one of Lord Lichfield's ancestors.

The engraving at top depicts Shugborough.

Darling Nicky

How easy it is to forget about preparing a blog post when you're reading Nicky Haslam's new memoir Redeeming Features. Forget delving into my design archives and actually researching something scholarly. I've only been interested in reading about things that are a bit more prurient.

I had anxiously awaited my copy because I knew it would be provocative. Actually, I ordered both Redeeming Features and The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, but I passed the Queen Mum along to my mum because I wanted to read the book with the naughty bits first. In the first three chapters alone, Haslam has gained more, um, experience than most garner in a lifetime and has spent the weekend with Tallulah Bankhead- all this by the time he was a young teenager. Hmmm....

So, while I continue to read about who did what with whom and where, I leave you with a few photos of Haslam's work from his previous tome Sheer Opulence.


The salon in a New Orleans home designed by Haslam. The design of the magnolias on both the wallpaper and armchair fabric was taken from a hunting schloss. Haslam lacquered corrugated paper and hung it beneath the room's chair rail.


The entrance hall in a London mansion apartment. Haslam says that he got the idea to drape the stairwell in white fabric from Christian Dior's Paris home.


A London dining room. The wallpaper is actually "cheap" textured paper that Haslam had silvered and hand painted.


Haslam installed the overscaled columns and pillars in this London dining room. What I find most interesting is the chinoiserie panel that can be seen in the mirror. It was inspired by the Chinese Palace at Oranienbaum (more on that this week) and was made of silver mica paper made to look like beadwork.


The study in Haslam's former London apartment. The wallpaper was painted by George Oakes, the famed decorative artist who worked with John Fowler. Can you imagine anything more comfortable than curling up in this room and reading a book? Perhaps a book like "Redeeming Features"?

(All photos with the exception of the image at top from Sheer Opulence)