The Billiard Room...

Just off the foyer one can retreat to the billiard room for a post supper dram and a gently competitive game of pool, snooker or billiards.

The green silk walls complement the green of the table, and the leather club chairs. Elsewhere the mahogany paneling provides a masculine club ambiance. The architrave to the left of the mantelpiece, which balances that of the door on the right (the entrance to the Gold Drawing Room) will serve as a frame for a cue rack and accessory hooks.

On the south wall between the two windows hangs an oil painting of galleons at sea. Below this is a little bookcase with pewter stags on top. We have some splendid coffee table type books for the case so guests can flick through them if they wish to retreat into the room for a cup of tea or coffee and some quiet time.

The space on the wall above the painting is reserved for a stag's head, but only one that I have shot myself and not one off the shelf as it were. I have a policy (vermin aside), that I won't kill an animal unless I am going to eat it. So, unless I shoot the stag myself and fill the freezer up with venison (thus rendering the head nothing more than a byproduct) the space will have to stay empty.

For a change of scenery, tomorrow we are going to venture outside and take a look at the portico, front door and the loggia. We look forward to seeing you then.

Billiard Table...

Peter has done really well over the last month, finding not only the grand piano, but also a billiard table. It is identical to the one below:

Peter bought it from a pool enthusiast who had not long since finished lovingly restoring it. But now with a young family, he has found that he no longer has time to play, and was looking for a good home for it. I can't think of a better home than WBP. Now we just need to set about sourcing materials to decorate the room. 

We have already chosen the lighting, which is being hand manufactured in the UK by craftsman David John:

Above: Billiard lights with green glass shades in French gold finish

Below: Picture lights in French gold finish.

and we have our hunting trip booked to bring back a stag's head (and some venison for the freezer).

Here are some other billiard room design ideas...

Above Images from Pinterest and Tumblr

On one side of the hearth we have a door leading to the gold drawing room, on the other side of the hearth we will mirror with fearless symmetry the architrave of that doorway, but instead of there being a door, the architrave will frame a cue holder, topped with a score keeper, similar to these ideas...

Balmorality....

Balmorality: Abstract noun; an enthusiasm for a stereotyped Scottish aesthetic.

I was prompted to do this post after being given several well chosen gifts from my mother for the Balmoral / Billiard room at Willowbrook - A large set of pewter deer antlers, a pair of pewter stag book ends, and a pewter sculpture of a stag and a doe.

They reminded me of a documentary I had seen about Balmoral Castle, and the Victorian aesthetic movement known as Balmorality. Victoria and Albert were enamoured with a very romantic ideal of Scotland, the sort portrayed by the Scottish poets and novelists, such as Sir Walter Scot. They made their castle a concentrated pastiche of this stereotyped 'scottishness'. 

Photo: Stuart Yeates

Above and Below: Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle was first leased by Prince Albert in 1848 and subsequently purchased in November 1851. The 15th-century house was soon regarded as inadequate and was replaced by an entirely new, larger building. Prince Albert helped with the design, and Queen Victoria wrote proudly, ‘all has become my dearest Albert’s own creation, own work, own building, own laying out’.

The interiors of Balmoral were given a strong Scottish flavour. The carpets, curtains and upholstery were in a range of tartans, including ‘Hunting Stuart’ and ‘Balmoral’, designed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Wallpaper incorporated patterns of thistle and heather, and the walls were hung with drawings by Edwin Landseer and prints of his paintings, mostly Highland scenes. In the Drawing Room there was a remarkable set of 12 candelabra in the form of Highlander figures holding deerstalking trophies, a collaboration between two British manufacturers, Minton and Winfield. Furniture was made by the London firm of Holland & Sons to simple but high-quality designs, mostly in light woods, such as satin birch or pine. Pieces for the most important rooms were embellished with silvered mounts, decorated with the royal couple’s ciphers or Scottish symbols.

Every year the Queen and the Prince travelled north for their autumn Highland holiday, enjoying the home of their own making and the freedom they found there. Prince Albert made his final visit to Balmoral in 1861, just months before he died. The Queen continued the tradition of the annual Highland stay following Prince Albert’s death, making her last visit to the Castle in 1900.

Stag heads and tartan abounded. Unsurprisingly, this style has continued to be popular periodically, with ever changing contemporary twists.

Taxidermy in general has a sort of Baronial style about it, though not always tasteful...

 I very much like the stag wallpaper. No animals harmed in the making thereof...

Tartan of course figures heavily in the Balmorality movement. Tartan was briefly outlawed with the 1746 Dress Act after the Jacobite Rebellions (with the exception of the black watch Regiment).

Photo: eclecticrevisited.com

Photo: interior-freedom.blogspot.com

Photo: Alkemie.blogspot.com

Here is the vintage documentary about Balmoral, including a good explanation of Balmorality...

For those interested in tartan decor and scottish themed style, you might like to check out Tartanscot's blog.

For those interested in Taxidermy, see our previous posting.