The Blenheim Suite...

Welcome to day 6 of the tour. Today we are sharing what has, surprisingly, turned out to be our most popular suite, The Blenheim Suite. I had always thought that the Brideshead suite would be our most popular, simply because it was the largest, and I thought that people might find my choice of decoration for this room too idiosyncratic.

We took our inspiration from the 18th century Chinoiserie-styled rooms popular in English country houses of the time. After hunting for quite a while to find the right wallpaper we settled on this turquoise paper by Zoffany. We really liked the crimson birds and pomegranates which punctuate the trellis-like branches and leaves. We then found a silk which complemented the colourings with which me made the curtains and had the bed upholstered. I found the throw pillows in Miami and brought them back with me (and people say accurate colour memory doesn't exist!). In time we are going to have a counterpane and top pillow covers made in a complimentary fabric, and possibly a corona with drapes behind the headboard. This is one room where less is not more.

Above: Bedside details.

Below: A sconce and headboard detail.

Above and below: Prints of a peacock and of a Chinese emperor, and sconces with a little blue and white jars. I suspect that in time the prints will be replaced with original artwork, and the jars replaced with finer antique ginger jars.

For now they are rather jolly accents...

The en suite has gray and white marble, with a matching vanity and mirror and nickel sconce lights with opaque glass tubing. The nickel matches the taps and gives the bathroom an Edwardian elegance.

We will share a few photos of the master suite at a later stage, but tomorrow we will be unveiling the Ballroom and Music Room for the first time. Join us then to see our own petit homage to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and how the piano was shifted into place.

The 'Big Reveal'...

Above: The courtyard with the pond, awaiting placement of the fountain in the centre and some goldfish.

Well, the first Wedding was a huge success with a very happy bride and groom and family. Everyone seemed to have a great night, and it was Peter's and my pleasure to host such a wonderful event. So, with our first event behind us we can now start to share all the progress over the past few months. Because I'm a bit of a tease I'm going to reveal a little bit more everyday until you have seen everything, so for the next fortnight please stop by for your daily dose of dazzling beauty as we unveil Willowbrook Park.

 Day One: The Foyer

Welcome inside the front doors to the foyer. Trevor is busy arranging flowers ahead of the wedding...

What a wonderful job. The flowers were from the gardens at Willowbrook, as well as from my Grandmother's garden. In the background you can see the 2 framed etchings I bought in Dubbo of classical urns. They are paired with a display case flanking either side of the front door, and a bronze and ormolu winged urn continuing the classical motifs. I am going to use the cases to display our intaglio collection, which is too large to frame, and will look quite dramatic on the backdrop of the red felt which is lining the bottom of the display cases.

Above: View towards The China Room and the hallway towards The Dining Room. You can just catch a glimpse of the chandelier above.

Below: Another arrangement on a little gilt wood table in the spiral nook of the staircase. In time this is where our replica of the rape of the Sabines will stand.

 Below: A view of the foyer from the entrance to the Salon.

Below: A view down into the foyer from the staircase.

Time for lights out. Sleep well. Come back tomorrow to see more of the chandelier and how they raised the 6 foot crystal colossus up into the dome.

Shopping for Chinoiserie...

The other day I went shopping in Dubbo for Chinoiserie for the Blenheim suite, and was surprised to come cross a fairly large stock of it at one shop, of varied shapes and quality...

I ended up buying only 4 little jars (which cost me $3 each) which I thought would make nice accents in the room:

When I get home at the start of next month I will be in full decorator mode. We have a professional photographer flying in to take photos for the website and promotional literature.

The main task I will have will be editing the rooms. Peter is currently cohorting all the themed items together for each room. I will then go through each room and arrange them, deciding what is going to stay and what is out. 

One of the things I have learnt from reading through many of my fellow bloggers' posts is that editing is the key in making sure a room looks tasteful. Anyone can find a conglomeration of themed items, be it cultural themes, colour themes, or temporal themes; but the real art to creating a tasteful vignette is to be incredibly selective in what goes into a room, and not just where it goes. 

One of the Hotel Inspector's biggest bugbears with interior design is people who offer boutique accommodation amongst the second hand detritus of their homes: idiosyncratic curios collecting dust, unedited surfaces decreasing both beauty and utility of spaces. 

Below is one such unedited vignette of the Blenheim suite. Peter and I have started to group the things we want to display in the room together, but as of yet there has been no editing...

For a start the temporary stained oak shelves are going in favour of a lighter brighter rococo gilt wood console with a Carrara marble top. The gold will help keep the room feeling light and bright and luxurious, whereas the dark timber starts to bring the room down.

We should have chosen to have the balloon chair water-gilded as well, but I don't think that the mahogany will have too much of a dampening effect with the large volume of teal silk comprising the bulk of the chair. 

We are pretty pleased with how the wallpaper turned out. It is a very strange colour to try to match, but we have chosen to try to match it to shades of blue always, and not shades of green, in an effort to bring out the most blue in the walls, carpet and fabric as possible. Then using gold accents, which will go with any colour, we will try to  create multiple vignettes, such as by using a range of sconces to display our oriental porcelain, Chinese Foo dogs, and cloisonne enamel vases on the walls...

I think a couple of sconces go a long way...

it may be a case where less is more...

We have a few very jolly Chinoiserie prints which we are having framed for the walls, and plan to create a seating arrangement at the foot of the bed with themed art books on oriental art and design, as well as books on the room's namesake, Blenheim palace. As you can see, there is enough room to carefully create a little sitting area at the foot of the bed...

Similar to the design of these other hotel rooms, which all seem to make use of the foot of the bed to create a separate area within a bedroom...

The black and gold lacquered Chinese cabinets have gold butterflies Japanned upon them. The little red and gold Chinese lamps on the bedside were the ones on either side of our bed at our last house. We have bought a pair of blue and white vase lamps to replace them, which are about twice the size, and will have a better scale within the space:

And of course we will have a few white phalaenopsis orchids. All our rooms have fresh flowers for guests whether they be cut china tea roses, or potted orchids...

A few of my favourite blogs which have many more examples of Chinoiserie design and offer items for sale are:

The Pink Pagoda

Chinoiserie Chic

The Enchanted Home

Interior Progress...

At last we can share some progress photos of the interior. We are still waiting for the marble flooring to arrive from Europe before much else can happen (i.e. the kitchen can not go in until the wooden floors are down, and the wooden floors can't go down until the marble has been laid, cut, and polished (due to the water damage that could be caused if the wood was laid before the marble polishing process)... So there has been a vast flow on effect. The boys are working hard to finish the rest from the top down and get us into the house by the end of April.

Here are some shots of the ballroom...

Above: The last French door has been placed, and the cornicing has been put up. On top of the cornicing (crown molding) there will be controlled LED strip lighting. This will be set to a gentle incandescent glow, which will light up the coved ceiling (or which could also be set to any colour or constantly changing pattern of colours depending on client's wishes). 

Above: The cornicing in the corner. 

Below: The cornicing on the straight. There is an upcoming post on the gilding plans for this cornicing.

Above and Below: The pier space between the french doors for the pier light mirrors. The curved architraves for over the top of the doors have yet to arrive (as they are a special order - they can not bend the existing architraves to a curve that acute).

From the ballroom we move through to the adjacent music room. This is turning into a little jewel box of a room, with it's similarly coffered ceiling and matching cornicing with lighting above. The view below is north out onto the terrace. The doors to the left go into the ballroom whilst the doors on the right go into the grand salon.

Above: North elevation. Below: South elevation, with doors through to hallway and then into the Billiard Room.

Above: The corner of room where one of six pillars will be affixed to the wall, to look as though they are supporting the cornicing (as in the photo below)...

Through to the grand salon now...

Above: View west through music room into ballroom. The loggia and terrace to the right, foyer to left at end of room.

Below: View east towards kitchen, terrace to the left and alcove towards end on right for the bar.

Below: The bar alcove (4 feet wide).

Above: View from the salon passed the staircase into the foyer. We recently had the underside of the long gallery above the front doors coffered, (below) which creates a much nicer space.

Through the foyer to the west, passed the billiard room, one enters the Gold Drawing Room...

I especially love the cornicing in this room, in fact it is my favourite in the whole manor...

Back through the foyer to the east, passed the China Room, one enters the Dining Room...

Above: View through door into dining room. 

Below: View of space between the two doors where the buffet will go.

Above: View of the fireplace backing on to the China Room.

Below: View from Kitchen Hallway looking down length of dining room.

Below: View of builder grinding the lintel of the lift doorway so the door insert can be fitted. In the foreground to the left is the door into the wine cellar. At the end of the hallway is the doorway into the dining room.

We had to choose the stain for the wooden paneling in the lift and in the Billiard room. We have chosen the warm mid-brown colour on top of the pile below. The bottom colour was too dark for small spaces and the middle colour too ginger.

If you are fit enough not to need the lift, you can come up the stairs to the second floor...

Above and Below: The current state of the staircase, waiting for the made to measure slabs of marble to arrive and be laid.

Above: View down the stairs from above. 

Below: The lift shaft.

Below: The view from the top of the stairs / lift door to the long gallery.

Above and Below: Views of the Long Gallery. There will be three pillars with busts atop below each oval window, and a mirror over the doorway at the end of the gallery to make it feel twice as long.

You may get a sense of the finished space if you compare the above passage with windows on left, door ahead and balustrade on right, to two similar spaces of the same configuration, shown below:

On the other side of the atrium upstairs is a small 'piano shaped' balcony. The door on the right is the entrance to the Brideshead Suite, while the door on the left goes through to a private hallway to both studies and the master suite. We will likely place a small arrangement of furniture, such as two arm chairs and a coffee table in the piano shaped area, with a grandfather clock to the left of our hallway door.

Below: A view into the Chatsworth Suite. The headboard of the four poster bed will go on the wall between these two windows, facing an open fireplace. In the middle of the room are the carved stone dentils for around the eaves of the house.

Below: The ceiling rose and cornicing of the Blenheim Suite.

Below: The curved wall at the back of the piano shaped balcony, with the doorway into the Brideshead Suite.

Above and Below: The view of the east end of the Brideshead Suite, with the curved wall of the ensuite, and the wardrobe, which will have a full-length mirrored door on it, so that brides can inspect themselves fully on their big day.

While the wall of the ensuite is only curved at one end on the bedrooom side of the wall, it is curved at both ends on the inside of the ensuite, making a lovely curved marble nook to enclose the spa bath for two...

Just down the hallway is the Master Suite. They have finished the cornicing in this suite, and have finished one wall for us to sign off on (the plaster work was flawless, like glass)...

The view above was inspired by the photograph below. We have had a tall narrow chest of drawers made especially for the end nook, which will have a painting above and lights either side.

Below: Cornicing in Master Suite. Nook for drawers to left, Dressing Room to right.

Below: West wall of master suite. There is a separate chest of draws made for the space between the windows. The headboard of the four poster will go on the wall to the right of the photo (centered on this wall backing on to dressing room so that there is His and His access to the dressing room from either side of bed.

Below: Vignette of a chest of drawers between two windows.

Through the dressing room one enters the master ensuite. Below is the enclosure for Peter's bath. The grey board is reinforced concrete sheeting to which the carved marble splashback will affix. The green water-proof gib board above will have mirrors fitted to the shape above the splashback.

Above: Peter's Spa Bath.

Below: My Shower (AKA The Carwash)!

Above: Two rain bars and central mixer below a large rain head.

Below: Six body jet inlets below a waterfall inlet on the opposite side of shower.

Such an ED Dr - no time for wallowing in a bath. Short attention span. Have stuff to do!

Well, that concludes our progress tour of the inside of the manor. In the next post we will see some of the earthwork progress on the paths, driveway and courtyard. Till then We will leave you with a picture of one of the stone capitals waiting for a column to be made. This is one of the two largest capitals, with the circular surface being 3 feet in diametre. They will go on the large columns on either side of the main entrance...