Little Gems

[vinteuil]

.

... yesterday a perfect autumn day. We went to the gorgeously-restored Strawberry Hill House, where there is an exhibition 'Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill : Masterpieces from Horace Walpole's Collection' [20 Oct 2018 - 24 Feb 2019]. They have managed to bring together many of the paintings and objects dispersed at the 1842 auction, and painstakingly reassembled them as they would have looked in Walpole's day. The whole place is completely bonkers in the best possible way, and well worth a visit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1ql8Tfqcw&feature=youtu.be

.

https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Hill_House

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Walpole

.

[Serial_Apologist]

.

... yesterday a perfect autumn day. We went to the gorgeously-restored Strawberry Hill House, where there is an exhibition 'Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill : Masterpieces from Horace Walpole's Collection' [20 Oct 2018 - 24 Feb 2019]. They have managed to bring together many of the paintings and objects dispersed at the 1842 auction, and painstakingly reassembled them as they would have looked in Walpole's day. The whole place is completely bonkers in the best possible way, and well worth a visit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1ql8Tfqcw&feature=youtu.be

.

https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Hill_House

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Walpole

.

Indeed, a wonderful place to visit, as mentioned in my #53. Having intended spending only half an hour there as I was to meet up for a concert just down the road, the greatest difficulty I had was in tearing mysedf away from the guides, almost one per room, who had so much of interest to tell one just kept coming up with supplementary questions! I would imagine Strawberry Hill to be a place to return to, as the renovations proceed.

There were no gentlemen on yesterday's walk of two and a half hours' duration through the streets mainly around Camberwell Grove - only myself and six ladies including our very forthright guide! One of the ladies was in a position to provide much additional information, having been born and brought up in the district in the 1950s, and I was reminded of the TV series "The Secret Lives of our Streets", which came up for mention. The biggest surprise for me came in learning that the church of St Giles, just beyond the main shopping area along the Peckham Road, was so-named in its original guise before Giles Gilbert Scott was brought in to re-design the new church after its predecessor burned down. I am always moved whenever these walks attract people of obviously non-British heritage, yesterday's attendees including one of south Asian origin and another from Brazil, who, rather strangely, asked me pointedly, "What attracted you to this walk?" - to which I could only reply, "Well, you being on it"!

[Serial_Apologist]

18th century shops - relics of Deptford, when it was just a village in rural Kent:

Page down this link to the heading, Landmarks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deptford

and click on the pic for enlargement, or on this link to a front view taken by a renovation firm involved in doing up one of the properties:

https://www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk/projects/display/id/6517

Not what you might expect to find in central London!

[Serial_Apologist]

RIBA House of the Year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33dnmk144ko

Just thought I'd draw attention to this place, given that it is within ten minutes' walk of where I live! Property values are bound to rise in the district as a consequence of this announcement - I think not!

Having noticed the place from the outside on one of my regular walks I have to say that I was not impressed: the building is uninspired on the outside, and from close proximity gives an impression of seclusion to the point of being hermetic, although the inside is arguably original and even rather good. But this also offers an opportunity to draw attention to the Victorian house with cream rendering to its immediate left, seen from the rear, which happens to have been the home of the socialist and social reformer Annie Besant in the 1870s.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/annie-besant/

The new house is in Dulwich Wood Avenue; Annie Besant's house just around the corner in Colby Road. The nearest "train station" is Gipsy Hill (as spelt), two minutes' walk away.

[oddoneout]

RIBA House of the Year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33dnmk144ko

Just thought I'd draw attention to this place, given that it is within ten minutes' walk of where I live! Property values are bound to rise in the district as a consequence of this announcement - I think not!

Having noticed the place from the outside on one of my regular walks I have to say that I was not impressed: the building is uninspired on the outside, and from close proximity gives an impression of seclusion to the point of being hermetic, although the inside is arguably original and even rather good. But this also offers an opportunity to draw attention to the Victorian house with cream rendering to its immediate left, seen from the rear, which happens to have been the home of the socialist and social reformer Annie Besant in the 1870s.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/annie-besant/

The new house is in Dulwich Wood Avenue; Annie Besant's house just around the corner in Colby Road. The nearest tube is Gipsy Hill (as spelt), two minutes' walk away.

I think the angled front section, with the spikey brick insert and the slab of marble that looks like an egg and flour victim, is a mistake in terms of the look of the building from the street. It seems like a collection of ideas that don't quite gel, and is too dominant, being so close to the boundary. It's probably not helped by the angle from which the photos are taken, but it does give the impression of shouldering the Victorian house out of the way.
Whoever was responsible for the planting in the tiny strip between that and the pavement has done it no favours either - that wispy grass* makes it look neglected rather than considered.
Mutter, mutter. Think I prefer last year's winner; although it too shares the current predilection for hard surface(ie noisy) interiors, I rather like the idea of living in a version of a greenhouse and having greenery not just at ground level.

https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/riba-house-of-the-year-2023-shortlist-hayhurst-and-co-green-house-london

* Stipa tenuissima - pony tail grass - which was planted in a couple of the borders in the gardens where I do volunteer gardening, and has become a real pain. It seeds everywhere, including in the tiniest cracks of a resin path where it can't be got out but causes damage as it expands. It's popular with the public, of all ages, due to its undoubted tactile appeal, but that just spreads the seeds even more... I just think it looks messy much of the time and that there are much better(and better behaved) alternatives.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think the angled front section, with the spikey brick insert and the slab of marble that looks like an egg and flour victim, is a mistake in terms of the look of the building from the street. It seems like a collection of ideas that don't quite gel, and is too dominant, being so close to the boundary. It's probably not helped by the angle from which the photos are taken, but it does give the impression of shouldering the Victorian house out of the way.
Whoever was responsible for the planting in the tiny strip between that and the pavement has done it no favours either - that wispy grass* makes it look neglected rather than considered.
Mutter, mutter. Think I prefer last year's winner; although it too shares the current predilection for hard surface(ie noisy) interiors, I rather like the idea of living in a version of a greenhouse and having greenery not just at ground level.

https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/riba-house-of-the-year-2023-shortlist-hayhurst-and-co-green-house-london

* Stipa tenuissima - pony tail grass - which was planted in a couple of the borders in the gardens where I do volunteer gardening, and has become a real pain. It seeds everywhere, including in the tiniest cracks of a resin path where it can't be got out but causes damage as it expands. It's popular with the public, of all ages, due to its undoubted tactile appeal, but that just spreads the seeds even more... I just think it looks messy much of the time and that there are much better(and better behaved) alternatives.

I quite like the way pampas grasses which first became popular with landscapers in the 1970s continue so to be, but prefer them to be used for architectural contrast to lend height (and sound!) within mixed beds, though I agree they can be invasive. As to the building, as one who prefers a womb-like living environment to one I would feel I was exploiting excessive space even in an average-sized nuclear family household, the 2023 winner has too much of the office foyer feel about it - and, as you say, the noise factor produced by hard floorings in what must be like being placed in an echo or resonance chamber.

[oddoneout]

I quite like the way pampas grasses which first became popular with landscapers in the 1970s continue so to be, but prefer them to be used for architectural contrast to lend height (and sound!) within mixed beds, though I agree they can be invasive. As to the building, as one who prefers a womb-like living environment to one I would feel I was exploiting excessive space even in an average-sized nuclear family household, the 2023 winner has too much of the office foyer feel about it - and, as you say, the noise factor produced by hard floorings in what must be like being placed in an echo or resonance chamber.

The taller varieties of Miscanthus, and also Panicum, took over from pampas grass, being much less of a problem, but recent breeding work on the old pampas has resulted in some smaller much less thuggish sorts so there is now something of a reappearance. I don't think the problem of the vicious leaves has been solved though.
As regards the current trend of open plan living it doesn't always involve using or having more space, as modern volume developers were quick to realise. A through lounge/diner or, more often now, a kitchen/diner, always looks bigger than two separate rooms, even if it isn't in terms of floor space. Like you I prefer the less exposed approach, not least as it makes heating requirements easier for the ordinary home(ie not super-insulated etc) and enables different activities not to impinge on each other. An article I read sometime last year was looking at owners of open-plan homes who were re-instating walls, or erecting from new, in response mostly to heating costs, but also in a couple of cases to the need to cater for differing needs of the occupants - adult children returning or older family needing care.

[vinteuil]

Like you I prefer the less exposed approach, not least as it makes heating requirements easier for the ordinary home(ie not super-insulated etc) and enables different activities not to impinge on each other. An article I read sometime last year was looking at owners of open-plan homes who were re-instating walls, or erecting from new, in response mostly to heating costs, but also in a couple of cases to the need to cater for differing needs of the occupants - adult children returning or older family needing care.

... many in our street of late-Victorian two-up two-downs have 'knocked through' : we did not.

Mainly "to enable different activities not to impinge on each other" - but also : internal walls are essential if you have need of wall-space for (a) bookshelves and/or (b) pictures. And yes, some in the street are now beginning to re-instate those knocked-through walls...

[AuntDaisy]

... many in our street of late-Victorian two-up two-downs have 'knocked through' : we did not.

Mainly "to enable different activities not to impinge on each other" - but also : internal walls are essential if you have need of wall-space for (a) bookshelves and/or (b) pictures. And yes, some in the street are now beginning to re-instate those knocked-through walls...

F&S "Design for Living"
"Our boudoir on the open plan
Has been a huge success
Now everywhere’s so open there’s nowhere safe to dress"

[oddoneout]

... many in our street of late-Victorian two-up two-downs have 'knocked through' : we did not.

Mainly "to enable different activities not to impinge on each other" - but also : internal walls are essential if you have need of wall-space for (a) bookshelves and/or (b) pictures. And yes, some in the street are now beginning to re-instate those knocked-through walls...

When we looking for a home in the early 80s I was adamant that it had to have 2 reception rooms, but at the time it was all modern 'thru'lounge/diner' houses or, as you say, knocked through terraces. We did manage to find a good size Victorian mid-terrace, with hall entrance to the 2 reception rooms, and over the years the separation proved invaluable. TV watching and listening to music could be kept separate, there was always a space free of kiddy clutter, and with the addition of a good sofa bed having guests to stay (which in later years included many foreign students, as the High School our children attended had an extensive European link-school programme ) didn't mean turfing a child out of its bedroom.