Many wail about declining numbers of working people, using it to justify the invasion of ill-educated, frequently low IQ, predominantly male migrant workers to provide the labour they think we need, flying in the face of the evidence that automation and new working methods require fewer people and that education is the cure not invasion. Many imported do not share our values or traditions and as their numbers grow the reverence for our past will diminish. Will this lead to the protection of our inheritance withering away?. We already see it in the National Trust where values seem to have undergone a seismic shift in a search for audience numbers. Will it mean national treasures will slowly decay into mouldering future archaeology as respect and visitor numbers diminish?
It is amazing what does drop into the lap of government. Apart from too much of our money, ‘they’ have a habit of holding onto things acquired in times of National Emergency and not giving them back. One of the delights of this of course is that sometimes these properties become preserved and them shared with us ‘hoi polloi’. Eltham Palace has some of the best Art Deco interiors to be seen in London, all preserved mercifully by the ‘brown jobs’ after the Army took it over in 1944, hanging on to this historic and delightful piece of London until (probably reluctantly)handing it over to English Heritage in 1995.
Reception area
Originally an 11th century moated Manor House in a then rural area outside London it was given as a Royal Palace to Edward II in 1305 by the Bishop of Durham. The main surviving element of its days as a Royal palace is the Great Hall, built in the 1470’s and bearing the marks of the passage of time (look for the remnant of the burn from incendiary bombs in the last little European disagreement). Here Henry VIII is reputed to have played as a child. The building of Greenwich gave royalty somewhere closer to town, easily accessible by river, and Eltham gradually fell into decline, being badly damaged in the Civil War. For 200 years from the mid 17th century the buildings were used as a farm. In an early example of conservation in the 1820’s the Great Hall was saved from destruction and restored only to continue its use as a barn.
Great Hall, playground to Tudor monarchs
Rescued in 1930 by Virginia and Stephen Courtauld of the pseudonymous textiles family, the estate had a modern house built adjoining the Great Hall – and imagine the fuss that would be made if anyone tried that today! Stephen was the younger brother of industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art, and was also a Director of Ealing Studios. The Courtauld house was stylish and reflected the times, and the family also created a garden of national importance as a fine example of 1930’s garden design. Both house and garden have been restored by English Heritage to their 1930’s Art Deco glory – and what glory it is too for you to visit and enjoy.
This is a set of my favourite interiors, full of intelligent design and innovation but reflecting the grace of its era. The National Monuments Record says of the interiors only that the house was ‘designed by architects Seeley and Paget (with numerous interior designers)’ and is ‘recognised as a masterpiece of 20th-century design’. Interesting the interior designers aren’t named but are believed to have included Italian designer Peter Malacrida and Swedish designer Rolf Engstomer. Artists Winifred Knight and Tom Monnington also were involved.
Dining Room
The result is a glorious interior reflecting the golden age of the great ocean liner. The house incorporated all the modern innovations of the time including underfloor heating and a centralised vacuum cleaner. It also had a built-in audio system The front door and approach, whilst giving stunning views across the London skyline, fails to prepare the visitor for the glory of the reception hall. Topped by a glass dome the circular hall has a circular carpet, and from it radiate the principal rooms of the house.
Most striking among these is the dining room, a symphony in pink silver and birds eye maple. What sets these interiors apart from modern interiors is the harmony of the finishes. This produces a room which has a stunning beauty. The doors are black and silver a feature of the period also seen in the Hotel Elephant in Weimar, dating from a similar time.
‘Her’ bedroom
The attention to detail is what pulls everything together. The silver details on the door are repeated along the side of the console table and echoed in the picture frames. The picture frames themselves are the same ‘flexwood’ birds eye maple finish as the wall coverings, making them appear to grow out of and appear part of the walls, giving additional weight to the visual importance of the art. Also integrated with the birds eye maple finish are the clock and barometer on the walls of the room. The pink in the dining chairs links through to the colour of the carpet in the public reception room.
Eltham Palace represented some of the best interiors for me, and it is the attention to detail and the harmony of finishes that creates the pleasure. These are interiors that are sharp and stylish but do it gently, by providing an environment for the occupants that is comfortable and cosseting. The interiors don’t shriek ‘look at me’ nor do they set out to shock. Yet they are very much of their time whilst serving this function. Contemporary designers could learn much by visiting here.
The harmony continues through the bedrooms and private rooms. Like Georgian houses this building had its areas for receiving guest and more private rooms for the family (including, famously, their pet lemur monkey).
Guest rooms were more Spartan than the family rooms, but had innovative design as well as plenty of timber panelling. Innovations included electric fires and writing desks concealed under the window cills, their leatherette tops swivelling out for use (remember this was the day of the fountain pen and the handwritten note).
In the lady of the house’s bedroom there was more marquetry and beautiful spaces with intelligent lighting, but it was, as in a modern hotel, in the bathroom that the luxury was most pronounced, with gold leaf mosaic tiling and statues of Greek goddesses. The bathroom design is again by Italian designer Peter Malacrida, responsible for the pink and maple dining room.
This domestic residence from the 1930’s has stylishness of its era and the quality of the execution and detailing set it apart and make it a superb reference source for all interested in design. Innovation and harmony, pattern and colour balance all play their part here as lessons in good design.
Eltham stands as an early Euro piece with designers from many countries. Courtaulds are one of Britain’s manufacturing giants who have disappeared along with so much of our industry, overtaxed, over regulated, over exploited by owners and their bankers. Like Norman castles, houses like Eltham Palace should stand as lessons for future occupants of these islands, and not, like statues dumped in a harbour, be hidden from history by the simple-minded generation we seem to have bred.
Recent Comments