Round Like A Circle In A Spiral...

The dome for The Foyer, (which Peter wants to call 'The Great Hall', as he thinks 'Foyer' sounds too French) has arrived from Perth and has been installed by the builders. It is 2.5 metres in diametre measured from the outer cornice, and 1.8m at the dome aperture, which is required as that is the same diametre as the chandelier.

There is LED strip lighting going around the lip of the inside cornicing which can be lit separately to the chandelier, which may prove useful as a night light for guests, or for more subdued lighting if one does not want 64 bulbs glowing all the time.

At one time we did toy with the idea of having the dome glassed and open to the sky above, but that would have required a dramatic reconfiguration of the roof design...

I was very keen to have a coffered dome like the pantheon ceiling...

But alas could not find one the right size pret a porter, and the builders estimated it would take about three of them seven days to make one, which was not in the budget, so we had to stick to a more elegant design (the word 'simple' is banned in our household).

Painted domes are OK if you can commission a Michaelangelo or Antonio Verrio to paint them for you, otherwise you risk them looking iffy. These designs are quite well executed...

Hotel George V, Paris.

Capital Building, Washington DC.

Castle Howard, Yorkshire.

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The dome is centered over a circular design in the marble floor, similar to these examples...

Below: The foyer marble plan...

The statue of the Rape of the Sabines, unfortunately, has been put on hold. So, until then, we are thinking of putting a lovely urn on a plinth in the inner curvature of the staircase, which is a very Georgian idea. Below are two photos of the hall at Osterley Park, with urns inside...

We could use this urn:

All that glisters....

"All that glisters is not gold,

Often have you heard that told"

How true, for had I my own Duchy or were I a Russian oligarch I probably wouldn't give a second thought to splashing 24 carat gold across the walls and ceiling like it were paint (forgetting that when it comes to gilding, less is more). However, the challenge with pulling off the project of WBP (and quite a fun challenge really) is to achieve the look on a budget. So often people who attempt to do this end up with plasticy imitations, tacky eyesores to behold (one does not merely grab a can of dazzle spray paint off the shelf at the hardware store and glitz up the coffee table in one's drawing room).

Above: Alchemist trying to create gold.

There must be, I thought to myself, an acceptable solution somewhere in the world of high end paints, metallic oxides that gave a very close approximation of gilding without the crippling cost. Luckily I did not have to resort to the dark art of alchemy.

I came across 'Dutch Gold', also known as schlagemetal. This is gold coloured metal alloy. Most golds are a combination of Zinc and Copper (Brass). Some are a mixture of Copper and Tin (Bronze). Others are a mixture of three or more metals. The more zinc the yellower the gold. Compositions usually range from 88% Cu/12% Zn to 84% Cu/ 16% Zn. 

Above: Raw Copper (Cu).

Below: Raw Zinc (Zn).

 Below: Tin (Sn).

Many paints use suspensions of these compounds to recreated a gilding look. The are several companies that include a metallic range. Some we found were:

Porter's Paints

Peter Fell Paint

Ralph Lauren 

(as Peter said "Is there anything Ralph Lauren doesn't do")

& Modern Masters

We are having family bring over some samples of the Modern Masters paints over from the US in March when they visit. The one we think may be suitable is Pharaoh Gold, closely followed by two others:

Pharaoh Gold 

Rich Gold

Olympic Gold

Between these we should be able to choose one which works. And they come in gallon pots, not just 30ml bottles like Martha Stewart's gold paint.

Here are two examples of how we wish to gild the Ballroom and The Music Room. We may also use a little in the gold drawing room. The rest of the house will be left alone.

 

Update 1 April 2015

We have now painted a sample of each of the paints and are very happy with the one on the left, which is Pharaoh's Gold. So, we will be going ahead with this paint in the Ballroom, Music Room, Gold Drawing Room, and perhaps the Dining Room...

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...