Past life echoes....
I recently heard about this grand 18th Century country pile from another photographer. I couldn't wait to visit the grand building, to capture the magnificent architectural details that are still present.
On the lower floors not far from the entrance is a two stories high library that even has secret doors leading to the upper landings in the bookshelves. Wonderful!
The bookshelves still had remains of old books. I go for a closer look:
None of these titles are familiar …
There is a sprawling country estate surrounding the 20,000-square-foot house. And this library really steals centre piece. Look at the ceiling rose and detailed plaster edge. Just wow!
A damp and mouldy atmosphere is prevalent in the interconnecting hallways between the large rooms, however this doesn't take away from the house, not one bit.
Despite all the mould and dust, the grandeur still shines through. The silence draws me into the past, and I imagine many dinners and entertaining that would have taken place here over the years.
Perhaps this was the ballroom? It's easy to imagine the ballgowns swishing across the floor.
The detail on these ceilings is amazing; look how well they still look. Imagine how spectacular these would have been when first built.
A property of this caliber takes years to build, and no detail was overlooked.
Until the mid 1980s, the house was owned by the same family.
It has been sold on a few occasions and now is caught up in a legal dispute.
The only loser at the moment is the house as it continues to deteriorate. Cooper and lead have been stripped from the ceiling letting water in at a rapid rate. I'd suspect this ceiling will be collapsed in less than a year making this wing inaccessible.
A house like this would have so many uses, it saddens me to see it going to waste.
Parts of the ceiling are crumbling away in this wing also.
It begs the question as to why houses such as this, as well as countless more that I document, are not put into a trust or organisation that can maintain them to some level so that they will not be lost.
The oak panelled dining room.
I've always dreamed of having a window-seat like this. You could waste hours sitting here reading your favourite book.
The ivy growing down the doorway, slowly creeping its way in, nature taking claim.
What a fantastic old property, shame to see it deteriorating to this state, but would take a lottery winner to restore it to its former glory, not to mention the normal upkeep 😕😕
Such a pity we can't save them all. At the very least could they not share some parts, or details, like the volets, oops, falling intae French agin, the shutters to refurbish other sites needing restoration? They often do that here in my adoptive France, if there is no chance of saving the entire building, they allow, something akin to emergency archaeological rescue, to salvage details like shutters, window frames, ceiling roses, moulded details, etc, to help restore or give more period authenticity to other period houses, mansions, etc. Think you'd be in your element here in Vannes (a medieval city, that has retained most of it's ramparts, even older than "Stroke City", and medeival, and after houses around the…