Whatever did people do before television and the internet? One of the things people did was to retire to the salon de musique after a splendid repast to entertain themselves and each other with musical recitals. (And if the novels of Jane Austen et al are anything to go by, this could prove to be a cruel arena in which young women would compete for the affections of the 'Mr Darcys' of their circle).
At Willowbrook the Music room will adjoin the Ballroom and the informal entertainment area on either side, and thus can be used as an ante-chamber to either room or can provide entertainment to either room when the bifold doors which run along either side are completely drawn back. In the case of entertaining in the ballroom, it could be where the orchestra or band is set up, or function as a side room in which to serve the refreshments and to where guests could retire from the main crowd for more intimate conversations.
Like the ballroom, the walls will be paneled in gilded boiserie, so that when the bifold doors into the ballroom are pulled right back, the two rooms become one. The pictures below of Norfolk House music room (disassembled and reassembled in the V&A museum in London when Norfolk House was demolished), show the general style we are aiming for, with the light coloured panels decoratively gilded with musical motifs.
At Willowbrook the Music room will adjoin the Ballroom and the informal entertainment area on either side, and thus can be used as an ante-chamber to either room or can provide entertainment to either room when the bifold doors which run along either side are completely drawn back. In the case of entertaining in the ballroom, it could be where the orchestra or band is set up, or function as a side room in which to serve the refreshments and to where guests could retire from the main crowd for more intimate conversations.
Like the ballroom, the walls will be paneled in gilded boiserie, so that when the bifold doors into the ballroom are pulled right back, the two rooms become one. The pictures below of Norfolk House music room (disassembled and reassembled in the V&A museum in London when Norfolk House was demolished), show the general style we are aiming for, with the light coloured panels decoratively gilded with musical motifs.
Likewise, the Salon de Musique in the Petit Trianon at Versailles has similar boiserie work, and very elegant dimensions.
More music rooms:
Below: Miss Eliza Bennett at Pemberley
Pride and Pedjudice
Below: Mrs Rebecca Crawley, nee Sharp
Vanity Fair
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I loved your examples, including the wall decorations, the furniture and the instruments. One music room that really impressed me was Napoleon and Josephine's at Malmaison on the edge of Paris. It wasn't nearly as lush as the photos you have shown, but it was functional and very relaxing.
ReplyDeleteThat leads me to think of something else. Unless a person lived in the very centre of a big city, where there were theatres, concerts, operas and other diversions, in-house entertainment must have been really important. Bridge and other card games would have been excellent, and poetry reading, I suppose.
Don't forget to include a good game table somewhere close at hand. We have a splendid inlaid example here at the manse. Came in handy during the nine day blackout following a hurricane.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a music room. And a ballroom? I can't imagine anything more elegant. What a different New Year's party it would have been had the Manse been built with one.
Lovely blog. Thanks for the link!