What: Eltham Palace
Where: Court Yard, London
Date: 1296, 1518, 1933
Eltham Palace was quite a spectacular site. The opulence of the house came from its size and acreage. This beautiful place was full of surprises from the basement with the living quarters and dark room, to the glowing golden bathroom. In most rooms, it was evident that it was a home once. Once you reached the chapel/church-like part, you could see that this was really quite the palace. The space allowed the family to feel closer to their religion, having the house of God, within the walls of their own home. The grounds themselves were covered in green spaces, well manicured, and seemly well placed. Parts of it reminded me of the Secret Garden because of the underground passage that you could go through to get to lower gardens
.This palace was built originally for Anthony Bek, the Bishop of Durham. It has undergone many years of new owners, ransacking, remodeling, and rebuilding. It was remodeled in 1350s to include better kitchens and lodging for royals. In 1475, the Great Hall, that is still there to this day, was built. In 1648, the palace was ransacked by Parliamentary troops, and because of this the ruins were used as farm buildings during the 1700s. The Great Hall even functioned as a barn. The home's design was created and rebuilt in 1933 by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld.
The design of the palace as seen now is influenced heavily by Art Deco. The rebuild in the 1930s was created with beauty of the time and opulence. The use of circular pieces. the smooth lines from room to room, the use of geometry, all create a building that feels like living Art Deco. The colors of the rooms and bathrooms were saturated.
Citations:
English Heritage. "Eltham Palace and Gardens." English Heritage. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/eltham-palace-and-gardens/.
Pevsner, Nikolaus. "England, Eighteen-ninety to Nineteen-fourteen " In Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius. London: Penguin UK, 1991.
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