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Tuesday 10 January 2017

DENNIS SEVERS' HOUSE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS INSTALLATION ..........



The annual Christmas installation at Dennis Severs house throws Christmassy aromas, period festive decorations and olde world sound effects into the mix.




This candlelit house has a no speaking rule so your fellow snooper's modern voices don't interrupt your journey into the past { although, a few of our companions failed to comply with the silent treatment !!! }


Its creator was Dennis Severs, an artist who used his visitors’ imaginations as his canvas and who lived in the house in much the same way as its original occupants might have done in the early 18th Century. This he did for his own personal enjoyment as well as for the harvest of an atmosphere, which he then employed to provide the visitor with an extraordinary experience. To enter its door is to pass through a frame into a painting, one with a time and life of its own.
The game is that you interrupt a family of Huguenot silk weavers named Jervis who, though they can still sometimes be heard, seem always to be just out of sight. As you journey off into a silent search through the ten rooms, each lit by fire and candlelight, you receive a number of stimulations to your senses.
It is the smell of food that first aligns your imagination with the faces around you in portraits. Then… Mr. Jervis’ wig, is it not the very same one that hangs over the back of his chair? His meal is only half eaten; did he abandon it when he heard us arrive?




The house's motto is " you either see it or you don't " ...







On the top floor, all is stripped of the lower floors prettiness and the air has suddenly turned cold. Here the lodgers dwell  and life takes on a more sordid picture ..... 



Although there is little money, efforts have been made to cheer the room up for Christmas with a few paper chains ...




and, in the upper bedroom, a recording of Scrooge is playing !!






XXXX





images 1, 2, 3 & 4: via me, image 5: via lostpastremembered, images 6, 8, 12 & 13: via time out, image 7: via spitalfieldslife, image 9: via rbakker, image 10: via travelasmuch, image 11: via abouttimemagazine 

Jackie

33 comments:

  1. I've seen a televised tour of this house; it's stunning. I would love to live in a house like that (as long as I was reasonably warm). I had a great aunt in Surrey who refused to quit her old cast iron range, very similar to picture 4. It was always a pleasure entering her lovely old Georgian house.

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    1. I have to say Cro, it was a very cold day when we went and the house is lovely and warm on the lower floors { and there isn't any modern day central heating .... it really is how it would have been } but, upstairs is really cold and it really does show you how horrible it must have been to have lived in such squalor ..... all was well in Georgian times if you had a few quid !!!! XXXX

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  2. I coud live there too. I would prefer Samuel Johnson's house though.

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    1. I think that we are going to Sir John Soanes house soon and will take in Samuel Johnsons at the same time as they are very close. I would imagine that Samuel Johnsons will be a little more minimal ? XXXX

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  3. Absolutely fabulous. Very Dickens and old England. I would love to tour it. I wonder if the tv show about the house is on Netflix.

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    1. It's one of my favourite London destinations Anna ..... see if you can find it on Netflix. XXXX

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  4. if i get back to london, i will be sure to go.
    fascinating -

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    1. Hi Renée ... it's so good to see you here in blogging land again !!
      You must go if ever you are here .... it only takes about an hour to go round.
      Wishing you all the best in your new endeavours. Much love. XXXX

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  5. Oh Jacqueline what a treat to see this on a sunny morning, here at Indian Rocks Beach. Your swagger coat is right in keeping with the home. (your wardrobe of coats and jackets are stunning). Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience and I hope some day to visit. Will you loan me your coat?
    Helen xx

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    1. Hi helen,
      I have to say that shoes and bags leave me cold but I LOVE coats and jackets ... I do have quite a few but, in my defence, I do wear them all !! They are all along the same lines and, if I see one, I can't resist.
      If you ever get to go to Dennis Severs house { or anywhere else here in London }, you are very welcome to wear my coat !!!
      XXXX

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  6. What a wonderful experience Jacqueline. Do oohs and ahhs count? You have the most adventures.

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    1. They do Donna ..... you're meant to go round the house in silence !!! It's a bit up itself but I do what I'm told !!!
      Hopefully, this year, we will go and see some more old London houses and I shall bore you all to tears !! XXXX

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  7. You are so right, it looks as though someone still lives there. It is enchanting to see it like this, and no so museum-like. Love this post! It made me smile to see you too. Sending love, my darling J.

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    1. Not everyone likes it Marsha but I LOVE it.
      I've only been twice but I'd go back lots of times. Sending love back Marsha. XXXX

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  8. How lovely to visit such an atmospheric house, I have always meant to go and will get around to it at some point....your coat was very fitting! (in both ways!!)x

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    1. I don't like to tell people to go to places as everyone likes different things but it really is good Libby. It only takes about an hour to go round and then you can have lunch in Spitalfields !!! XXXX

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    1. Not everyone does Elizabeth ... you would LOVE it !!! XXXX

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  10. Fantastic, I'd not heard of this place but it's on my list of things to see when next in London. Looks amazingly atmospheric. And that bed! Jane x

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    1. It's one of my favourite places Jane .... I think you would enjoy it. XXXX

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  11. Wowwww wonderful.......love Ria x ❤️

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  12. That's fascinating. I've never heard of Dennis Severs' House and I lived in London for 53 years! Next time I'm in London I must pay a visit. Quite a contrast between the sumptuous rooms downstairs and the spartan ones upstairs!

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    1. I think you'd enjoy it Nick ..... and the difference from the lower rooms to the upper ones is amazing. XXXX

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  13. Thank you for making me feel like I was there experiencing it for myself Jackie! What a wonderful experience to be able to attend and thank, thank you for taking us along! Now I have to go back and see this again!

    Sending much love your way...
    p.s. I am well now and it really was terrible, but sometimes being female is no fun, if you get my drift....:)

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    1. Oh June ... poor you. I hope all's well now and you are getting back to being fighting fit again ..... this growing older isn't good is it ? Bette Davis said " old age ain't for sissies ' .... I think she was right !!!!
      Look after yourself June & get better soon.
      Your garden needs you !!!!
      Sending much love. XXXX

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  14. You look magnificent Jacqueline. The coat, the hair, the boots, the atmospherics. It is the very place for you.

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    1. Well, thanks Mise but please note that the back view far outweighs the front !!!! XXXX

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  15. So very, very beautiful, thank you Jackie! We have a house in Berlin where they attempt the same - quite nice, house of the family Knoblauch, silk merchants, 18th century. You gave me an idea for a blog :-) Britta XXX

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    1. I glad to have been of service Britta ..... I shall look forward to reading it !!
      I don't really like recommending places as everyone likes different things but I think you would enjoy it. XXXX

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