Waddesdon Manor

I actually visited Waddesdon Manor a couple of months ago, but it's still quite fresh in my memory so thought I'd share my thoughts on this delight of a place. 


The actual house is immediately pleasing on the eye. I was sure on first impression that it must have been the setting for Batman, but looking back I think I may have been a little over-excited, and certainly the lady on the ticket desk wasn't impressed when I inquired. The house itself is neither a museum, nor a historic period frozen in time. In fact, it's the family home of the Rothschild's, four generations of whom have lived and made their mark on the interior, and the belongings that reside there. This unique expression of Rothschild taste and patronage was left to the National Trust by James de Rothschild in 1957 and is open to the public. 

There are 45 rooms open to the public where you can explore an exceptional collection of French 18th century decorative arts and English portraits. These include (to my delight) French royal furniture, porcelain and Savonnerie carpets, and portraits by Reynolds, Gainsborough and Romney. What left me staring, transfixed in a state of pure bliss, was the dining room which I honest to god could see myself hosting dinner parties in. Wowzers...

I like to think that one day I too will have a dining room like this one. Albeit smaller and on the cheap but that's the challenge!

Actually I think my favourite room was one of the bedrooms. I've struggled to find an image that's not copyrighted of this so thank you 'Malcolm Bull' for this!

When I move into my own house, i think I'm going to base my boudoir on this one. The old fashioned wallpaper is actually really easy to find at the moment. Wallpaper direct have a HUGE range of gorgeous floral designs and I particularly like this one. Although it's an oriental design, the repeat is similar to that in the above image. 

As i was so overcome by the interior (I really was, I actually got told off for touching the wallpaper at one point-not one of my finest moments although worth it) I can't actually remember much of the history behind the house but the gift shop was blooming marvelous. I could have spent hours in there, stocking up on birthday and christmas presents.

I've recently started buying single sheets of wrapping paper to use as posters as I think you can actually get much nicer designs for a tenth of the price. I got a gorgeous toile design for £1.50 and I was a happy bee all the way home