To continue the theme of country houses (and don’t you envy Diane, who is touring such beautiful estates?), I thought it would be nice to talk a bit about the research books I use to build the country houses in my novels.
So without further ado, please follow me into my study:
One of the unexpected pleasures of writing Regency Historicals for me is researching how people lived. I’m fascinated by the mundane details of life, like what flowers grew, what food would be eaten, what furniture would be in what room. On my England tours, I asked questions everywhere about the details of carpets that were on the floors.
I tend to forget that my lovely Virginia Commonwealth has a lot of history, as well, dating back to the 1600s when Jamestown was founded. (We aren’t a state, by the way; we’re a commonwealth–according to the Hornbook of Virginia History, “A commonwealth is ‘a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people.’ The term was first given to Virginia in the 1600s)
Last Monday, the dh and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip to Westmoreland County in Virginia’s Northern Neck, the peninsula bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. See more about our trip here.
This area was filled with wealthy tobacco plantations and was the birthplace of many of our important historical figures: George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, the two Lees who signed the Declaration of Independence, and, at Stratford Hall, the place we visited, Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Stratford Hall was built in 1730 by Colonel Thomas Lee who was then acting Governor of the colony. Two of his sons were the Lees who signed the Declaration of Independence. The house was built in the Georgian style, which would have been much the fashion in England at the time–very symmetrical. The main floor of the house included a Great Hall for grand entertaining, the dining room, bedchambers, parlors and the library. In the library, books were kept under lock and key; they were considered quite precious.
We had a fabulous guide to take us through the house and explain its features and history. (that’s me in the pink. The people in hats were, coincidentally, from England!)
I saw many familiar-looking tables, chairs, bureaus, wardrobes, beds. The house was furnished much like the English country houses I’d visited on my tours.
I noticed, though, that the floors were bare. When I went on those tours of country houses in England, remember, I always asked about carpets. Almost every room had carpets of some kind. Our guide to Stratford Hall said they kept the floors bare, because the carpets would have been hard to keep clean. They might have had painted sail cloth (oil cloth) floor covering, but no carpets.
I can just imagine some wealthy gentleman from England visiting a house like Stratford Hall in the Colonies. What the Virginians would have considered quite opulent, such an English visitor must have thought very provincial. The wealthy Virginian visiting a country house in England, like Chatsworth or Burghley House, must have walked around with his mouth open.
What “great houses,” historical or otherwise, have you visited lately?
I’m still doing my Goodreads Contest!
Giveaway ends June 17, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Like Elena, this past weekend I was at a Retreat–Washington Romance Writers Spring Retreat. Not to work, but to be “In the Company of Writers.” We had speeches and workshops and Romance Jeopardy and much conversation. More about that on Thursday at Diane’s Blog.
My husband leaves things around sometimes. And sometimes I pick up after him. One item he left around recently was a 1985 issue of National Geographic (because, doesn’t every husband?). Imagine my surprise when I leafed through it and found an article on England’s Country Houses, called The Great Good Places. I was even more surprised to see it was written by Mark Girouard.
Mark Girouard is more known to me for writing books on my research shelf, books like The Country House Companion or Life in the English Country House .
Girouard begins the article:
When I was an undergraduate in the 1950s, I used to stay with my old great-aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, at Hardwick Hall…
The idea of visiting such a house as a relation boggled my mind! Perhaps Girouard’s love of English architecture began with such visits. He later read the old account books, letters, and other documents from Hardwick Hall, piecing together what happened there.
In the time of Bess of Hardwicke, for example, Girouard described how, in the early 1600s, the Earl of Rutland would arrive on horseback, the gate opened by the porter, the servants who could take away the horses, the greeting by the Usher of the Hall. Girouard goes on to describe a meal and the entertainment.
In addition to Hardwicke Hall, the article includes photos (by Fred J. Moon) of several other Houses, such as Blenheim, Penshurst Place, Knoll, Burghley House, and Castle Howard, mentioning that Castle Howard was the location for the recent (in 1985) TV miniseries, Brideshead Revisited
Girouard talks about the 1700s as the most pompous age of the country house. He discusses Queen Victoria setting the style for “elegance and importance without ostentation.” He moves on to another country house heyday, the Edwardian Age.
What does he leave UNDONE?
The REGENCY!!!!
Not a mention of the Regency era, not one. Not even a peep about the Pavilion.
Do you have a favorite English Country House? I remember loving Stratfield Saye, Wellington’s house, because it still seemed like a real home. In fact, members of the family still lived there. I also was amazed by Chatsworth.
How about you?
Remember, I’m still giving away prizes this week at Diane’s Blog. My plans for Wednesday are UNDONE, but Friday I’ll feature my story in Pleasurably Undone, The Unlacing of Miss Leigh.