Through the keyhole

[Jon Maine]

Sorry for the delay, which was caused in part by the weather (I spent a lot of yesterday evening chopping wood and feeding the boiler)
This puzzle appears to be easier for some of you than I would have found it. However, here's another picture of the hall at the foot of the main staircase. Someone seems to have been keen on travelling.

?????????????? :?

 

[DaveBrigg]

The chandaliers all have energy saving bulbs.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I'm sure I'm wildly wrong - but those stairs and that yellow look like the stair case in No 10, don't they?

No idea about the globe - or the riff raff they appear to have let in though! :lol:

 

[Jon Maine]

I am afraid another ??????

 

[DaveBrigg]

You've got it OK, I admit defeat. Tim was first to spot it was No 10, although Jon suspected, as did MdB.

The PM over there -> doesn't count...

10 Downing St is an unusual example of a Georgian town house which has not suffered from unsympathetic alterations or lack of funds for maintenance. We were lucky enough to have a tour a couple of weekends back. I'll try to post a few more pictures of inside which will interest fans of Sir John Soane. This was my favourite part, a fireplace with a window directly above. it was Soane's answer to the problem of maintaining perfect symetry in a room which had a central window, but needed a new fireplace. The flue splits in two and runs inside the wall either side of the window. It used to get so hot the the glass sometimes dropped out, but none of the fireplaces are used now.
View attachment 1
Below is another picture of the room, showing some of the ceiling. It was not easy to take pictures; a flash could only be used if all the paintings in view were protected by glass.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I'm astonished you were allowed to take the photos at all...
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/PhotoTerrorism/

 

[Gareth Hughes]

You've got it OK, I admit defeat.
10 Downing St is an unusual example of a Georgian town house which has not suffered from unsympathetic alterations or lack of funds for maintenance.

Hmmmm. How easily our politicians deceive us, it dates from 1960:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street#Rebuilding_Number_10:_1960.E2.80.931990

 

[DaveBrigg]

You've got it OK, I admit defeat.
10 Downing St is an unusual example of a Georgian town house which has not suffered from unsympathetic alterations or lack of funds for maintenance.

I chose my words carefully. Although there was a massive renovation project in the 60's, I don't think there have been unsympathetic alterations. The rooms on view and the exterior have had minor alterations, (most recently by Quinlan Terry but otherwise look the same as they did in 1826. £3 million for the 1960's work does not suggest a lack of funds. Although it is not double-glazed there is no wobbly glass though, and the black brickwork at the front has seen the soot replaced by paint. It was only when looking at the photo's afterwards that I noticed the mother of all flat screen TV's in the bookcase.

 

[Moo]

Curioser and curioser.
Visit the forum without logging in and the am/pm information appears.
Log in and it doesn't appear.

The wonders of modern technology.

 

[MdB]

You've got it OK, I admit defeat. Tim was first to spot it was No 10, although Jon suspected, as did MdB.

The PM over there -> doesn't count...

I think you are being very generous to me there...

 

[TimM]

I'm sorry, I was so excited to actually guess where the mystery building was! Still, great photos, sounds like a fun trip.

 

[essexbearhunter]

Although there was a massive renovation project in the 60's, I don't think there have been unsympathetic alterations.

Raymond Erith was an extra-ordinary architect - a Classicist when it was deeply out of fashion and one whose clients often did not have the deep pockets that allowed Lutyens and the like to bring forth their best - in this respect Quinlan Terry, his pupil and later partner, has been more fortunate.

This, to me, makes him so much more relevant to our position - showing how thoughtful design rather than "£10 million and the ability to bulldoze all the neighbouring houses" can create delight in a house. The Folly at Gatley Park remains one of my favourite small buildings ( though that double door under the Georgian fanlight would have to go! ).

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Although there was a massive renovation project in the 60's, I don't think there have been unsympathetic alterations.

Raymond Erith was an extra-ordinary architect - a Classicist when it was deeply out of fashion and one whose clients often did not have the deep pockets that allowed Lutyens and the like to bring forth their best - in this respect Quinlan Terry, his pupil and later partner, has been more fortunate.

This, to me, makes him so much more relevant to our position - showing how thoughtful design rather than "£10 million and the ability to bulldoze all the neighbouring houses" can create delight in a house. The Folly at Gatley Park remains one of my favourite small buildings ( though that double door under the Georgian fanlight would have to go! ).

Sadly, Quinlan is in the position of having clients with £10 million to spend, and is much the worse architect for it. Though he does have a conviction for illegally demolishing a listed building...http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...t-fined-for-knocking-down-nash-gate-houses.do

 

[essexbearhunter]

Sadly, Quinlan is in the position of having clients with £10 million to spend, and is much the worse architect for it.

Yes, my reaction when I read Radical Classicism by David Watkin was that Terry had fallen over the edge into Hollywood Bling. Only history will tell whether future owners view it as such and feel the need to 'do another scene change' .
I would be rather sorry to lose Ionic Villa, Waverton House and the Summer House at Bibury Court.