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News of castles, mansions, palaces and more… |
AS Tom Cruise celebrated his 49th birthday overnight, friends and family were invited to wander through his newly refurbished mansion in Beverly Hills. They would have admired the tennis courts above Sunset Boulevard, the car and motorcycle collection and, if they were especially privileged, the snoratorium.
It is the latest “must-have” fad in Hollywood, this season’s panic room or nuclear shelter. Typically, it is a padded and atmospherically controlled bedr… (View original article)
Anger as National Trust house-breeding plans end in fiasco
The National Trust’s controversial plan to breed new ancient manor houses for future generations has come under fire, following a failed attempt to mate the Somerset-based Elizabethan manor Montacute House with the ruins of Corfe Castle in Dorset. Critics regard the programme as expensive and misguided.
‘How the trust thought any good would come of this is beyond me,’ thundered Nige… (View original article)
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I promise, no more photos of chateaux after this, but Chenonceau on the river Cher is so stunning, I can’t resist.
Chenonceau is known as the “Chateau des Dames” for its many famous women residents.
The first Dame was Katherine Briçonnet, who had the castle built in 1513.
In 1547, when he ascends the throne, Henry II gives the castle to his mistress Diane de Poitier. Though she was twenty years older than him,… (View original article)
The Chapel
From there we were shown into a tiny chapel. It was beautiful in its simplicity with a rough altar with rather brutally carved, painted images displayed upon it. The small chamber is lit by a narrow window with greenish stained glass (not original) and it cast an eerie light over the room and its artifacts.
Above the altar the wall a niche has been created and picked out in ochre paint. Over the niche a zig-zag line has also been picked out in red earth colo… (View original article)
Out came the sketchbook, the squared paper, the pencils and the plant
catalogues: Otter Farm was on its way. The inspiration kept coming. People
like Sarah Raven, and Monty and Sarah Don sat on the fence of gardening and
cooking, exactly where I felt most at home. Their early books showed me that
gardening is like writing a book and that cooking what you grow is like
turning it into a good film.
Not yet seven years old, Otter Farm is still young and I’ve already m… (View original article)
A James Bond-style Cold War bunker deep beneath the Mendip Hills could leave visitors a tiny-bit shaken and a little-bit thrilled next month.
The bunker, built underground between Charterhouse and West Harptree, still contains some of the equipment that was fitted more than 50 years ago, to be used in the event of a national emergency.
Now the bunker is to be reopened for two days only, as part of the Mendip Hills Festival of Archaeology.
And groups of public can … (View original article)
Location: Houston
Price: $8.9 million
The Skinny: After a tipster slipped us a link to this Moroccan mansion in Texas, we checked and rechecked the location. Surely, this convincing replica couldn’t be planted in conservative Houston, but yes, it was — all 20,000 square feet of it. In the inner courtyard, vistors wouldn’t be blamed for thinking they were ensconced in a Marrakech manse, with tile detailing, fountains, and no view of neighboring McMansions. Wi… (View original article)
MissionThe Simes House Foundation was created to engage in restoring, preserving, maintaining and operating the Simes House and its grounds located at 29 Manomet Point Road, Village of Manomet, Town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Town of Plymouth.
The foundation was formed by
a group of these inhabitants committed to preserve our local history while providing a community center for all of Plymouth.The Simes House… (View original article)
The showhouse, that ode to glorious decorating excess, largely disappeared from the L.A. scene along with the crash of the real estate market. This week, however, it’s back — big time.
The Veranda “House of Windsor,” an 8,000-square-foot mansion in Mandeville Canyon, has been decked out by the likes of Peter Dunham, Kathryn Ireland, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, Richard Shapiro and lead designer Windsor Smith, who included a little equestrian influence.
The “House of Windsor”… (View original article)
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