Details of St. Paul's Cathedral

Everyone knows of St Paul's Cathedral in London even if they have not visited (like me). The huge domed structure was designed by one of England's great architects, Sir Christopher Wren,  in 1708 and still stands as the seat of the Bishop of London.

The immense Baroque Cathedral stands tall at 365 feet over the city, seen in this image above from Wikipedia. Until 1965 it was the tallest building in all of London!

Of course everyone associates the Cathedral with the 1964 movie (my favorite!) Mary Poppins.  It was a major tourist destination to Jane and Michael Banks and remains a hot spot in the city to this day.

Oscar winning actress Jane Darwell at 84 years of age depicted the lovable Bird Woman who sold food for pigeons from the steps of St Paul's.

Did you cry? I always do -love that song. Anyway -back on track here - we're here to discuss the details of St. Paul's. The writers may have been influenced to write the song based on said details!

Among the many sculptures decorating the facade are many depicting birds, food, and even mother birds feeding their young (seen above).

The details can get lost in such an impressive structure -above is the front entrance.

Even the rear or Apse of the Cathedral features elaborate ornament.

Birds and cherubs, birds and cherubs -the next Disney song?

Notice the birds above under the cornucopia of produce.

No birds here but plenty of winged cherubs.

Read more about "Feed the Birds" and the connection to St Pauls on their own website HERE.
Thanks as always to my Australian Pen-pal Neil for the gorgeous snapshots!

Kirby Hall -reborn

Recently while on the English Heritage website I saw intriguing photos of Kirby Hall and remembered it from the 1999 movie of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park". I've always been intrigued by ruins so I asked my penpal if he had ever visited the estate. He responded with these pictures from his 2009 visit.

From a distance in the newly relaid gardens the structure appears as a normal Elizabethan house; as if the owners had just stepped away. However it has laid abandoned since the 18th century when the owners walked away and only in the past few decades have portions of the interior been rebuilt.

Kirby Hall began construction in 1570 for Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Chancellor and close friend, Sir Christopher Hatton. Many claimed he was actually her lover (particularly her enemy Mary, Queen of Scots) as they were very close personal friends and he benefited financially from their relationship (obviously). Some things never change with jealousy and  mud-slinging!

The facades were based on French architectural pattern books of the time and the influence of the Italian Renaissance was obvious, particularly on the interior courtyard facades.

Whenever I see great places like this going to waste I always think "this would make great condos" and that holds true here. I'll take one on the courtyard side please!

Ruins fascinated homeowners in the 18th century and still do to this day.  Kirby Hall may actually be more interesting in this semi-ruinous but stabilized state rather than had it been lovingly cared for over the centuries.

The Great Hall and staircase have been restored and were heavily featured in the aforementioned Mansfield Park movie from 1999 as the home of Sir Thomas Bertram. Read more about its role in the movie with many film shots of the interior and exterior HERE and HERE.

My favorite detail is perhaps the inset railing in the stone wall of the great staircase below. Image is from the Jane Austen Film website here.

Add Kirby Hall on your list of places to visit should you ever be passing through Northamptonshire!

BUtterfield 8 movie sets

This past weekend I watched the movie that won Elizabeth Taylor her first Oscar in 1960, BUtterfield 8. While Mrs Taylor's performance and the movie as a whole were excellent I have to say what stole the show for me was the NYC apartment of her society 'boyfriend' Weston Liggett played by Laurence Harvey.

The neutral tones of the apartment were predominantly gray with black doors and white trim. Sound very 2014 to you?  I also loved that the plaster casings around the door - seen above -and in the fireplace surround seen in the first photo were a very classical Greek key. Design inspiration is everywhere if you just look!
Apologies for the photo quality which I took of my tv screen!

Kenwood House

Located in London is Kenwood House, a stately house that has acted as an art museum since 1928 which was re-envisioned by Robert Adam in the 1770s for the Earl of Mansfield.

Recently the house has been in the news after both a massive restoration as well as having one of its' former occupants immortalized in film:  Dido Belle (Belle, 2013). Unfortunately I have yet to see the movie, portions of it filmed at Kenwood House (also portions of the film Notting Hill) .

The shallow Ionic entrance portico was added by Adam during his renovation of the house as well as the side wings.

 Adams' hand is evident throughout many of the public spaces.

None of the furniture was included with the house when Lord Iveagh donated the house and art to the nation in 1927. Since then all of the furniture seen has been donated and collected, some originally from Kenwood.

 Notice the fabric covered pelmet with these curtains.

 The most famous room of the house is no doubt Adam's library.

 I've read that the spines of many of these books are fake but they sure look real to me, don't you think?

 The ceilings are a neoclassical masterpiece.

 Gilded pelmets grace the windows of the library, notice how the motif echoes the ceiling decoration.

 Another graceful cantilevered stair graces the house.

 I wonder why no art is hung on the stair walls; it looks so naked.

 But there is no shortage of amazing art throughout the rest of the house.

The quality of the art is so good that you probably recognize much of it, including the Van Dyck above the fireplace below of Princess Henrietta of Lorraine.

Of course Lord Iveagh had help amassing his collection, he hailed from the Guinness family.

 I love the subtle reminder of the large thistles to not sit on the armchairs; much more elegant than rope.

The breakfast room seen above includes other notable paintings such as Lady Hamilton at the spinning wheel by George Romney.

The collection of Robert Adams upholstered furniture was designed for the house but was of course later donated and with impressive provenance.

During the Kennedy era renovation of the White House the sofa was expressly donated back to Kenwood House by Jackie Kennedy.

 Not sure I love the upholstery of the matching armchair above.

Lastly this collection of lovely desks caught both my eye as well as my penpals who provided me with these pictures.

In this age of email, the laptop, and tablet will desks go away? They really are one of my favorite pieces of furniture so that would be a shame -although admittedly I sold my own desk years ago.

 Kenwood House is conveniently located in London so be sure to include a visit to the house and its' art collection on your next visit!

Those trashy Greeks.....

No the title is not meant to be derogatory but hopefully it caught your attention!  Rather, how fabulous is this trash can in the "Greek style" from the 1967 movie Playtime. I watched this movie last night at the recommendation of professor Michael Djordjevitch from the NYC Beaux Arts Atelier. If you get a chance the Atelier is a wonderful organization which gives intensive courses in classical architecture and drawing ranging from 1 week intensive courses to 1 year programs (I've been meaning to take the 1 week course myself). The movie is notable for its intricate and daring sets which are a riff on modern architecture and urban planning -they make this funny movie all the better (thro.out greek style)! Be sure to add Playtime to your netflix queue, you won't regret it.

Filoli Ballroom

The ballroom at Filoli was one which I instantly recognized, do you? It's the home gym of Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait! The space was restored for the movie along with other parts of the house and impresses everyone who enters it, as it should!The flowers, seen best in the picture at top, were probably the most beautiful in the house. Not an easy feat as each room has a gorgeous bouquet fresh from the garden. The mixture of bright colors in the pale green room with gilded accents was really striking. Forget the Bagues chandeliers modeled on the ones from the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, everyone on the tour noticed the flowers first.The murals are the core of the room. They were completed in 1921 by Ernest Peixotto for the original owner Mr. Bourn after he suffered from a stroke and was unable to leave the house. The murals depict his daughter's beloved castle in Ireland he had gifted to her (Muckross, seen below) which he was unable to visit during his illness.

The maguette or model seen below of the Ballroom was gifted to Filoli after the artist's nephew saw the movie Heaven Can Wait and recognized his family's dollhouse! This scale model of the room was created so that Peixotto could work from his studio in the city and plan out the large scale canvases.

I hope you are looking forward to more of Filoli! Read more about the ballroom's murals on their website; click on 'ballroom' towards the bottom of the page.