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Meet Mah Jong – well, you can try to meet him anyway, he’s not always easy to keep up with. You might just catch a glimpse of him zipping up a little bamboo ladder from the flower-arranging room to his den. Or maybe see him in a painting. Or a mural. Or…is that…can it be…? A ring-tailed lemur peeping out from one of the ancient hammer beams mouldings in the Great Hall?
Mah Jong was the pampered pet of celebrated socialites Virginia and Stephen Courtauld.
These bright butterflies of 1930s society loved nothing better than entertaining guests at their art deco country home, but Mah Jong was part of the bargain. He was allowed free reign of the house, known to take a nip at guests’ ankles during dinner.
Eltham Palace, in South East London, is one of the capital’s hidden jewels. Not as well visited as it might be because people think it’s hard to get to, it’s actually just a ten minute stroll from Mottingham Station (NOT Eltham station, but we’ll talk about that later…)
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It’s a treasure of moderne style – but there is far more to this sumptuous country estate than first meets the eye. A palace of two halves, parts of it are actually 700 years old. Henry VIII spent his childhood there and the extraordinary great hall dates back to 1470.
The classic moated manor house was a Royal residence in Tudor times, but fell out of favour later for being cold and damp. After Charles I's fall it slowly fell into rack and ruin. It ended up as a barn.
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In the 1930s, Virginia and Stephen Courtauld were looking for somewhere close to the city to move to. They wanted somewhere to relax between extensive world traveling, to enjoy as a home and, above all, to entertain.
The ruins at Eltham Palace were beautiful, but uninhabitable, so in a move that wouldn’t be allowed today, they got architects Seely and Paget to design an up-to-the-minute house, but also incorporating what could be saved of the original palace. The result is an extraordinary mix of medieval castle and jazz age opulence. The join between the two is virtually seamless.
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Take the moat. As you arrive, you’ll enter via the last remaining medieval stone bridge across bucolic waters full of fish and birdlife. Willows weep and reeds whisper. On the top level the modern house is 1930s chic. Underneath, the stone wall has arched medieval windows and carved heraldry. But that’s only half the picture. By the time the Courtaulds arrived, the other bridge had disintegrated, with just its pillars remaining. They restored half of the moat, the other half houses one of my favourite deep flower borders in the country. You can get to this riot of yellows, reds and purples via secret tunnels and darkened steps, or just wander round through original 20th Century plantings houseguests would have enjoyed.
Stephen and especially Virginia (‘Ginie’) adored parties and held balls there, but they also loved their history and spent a lot of time and money restoring the ancient building, adding a minstrels’ gallery whose walls I wish could speak. The magnificent oak hammer beam ceiling is stunning, though it has seen its share of woes, not least from an incendiary bomb in WWII.
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What most people go to Eltham for, however, is the modern house. To get the same sort of experience as house party guests, make sure you enter through the main entrance (noting the heady perfume of a gigantic Lime-Blossom tree outside...) I love that, on your left and right, are the restrooms (originally cloakrooms for new arrivals) where even the faucets are art deco-perfect.
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However many times you may see images of the circular reception hall, nothing prepares you for actually encountering it. It’s light, bright and very, very cool.
Dining rooms and relaxing lounges are all decorated in silvers and golds, with minimal but exquisite furnishings. Ample ‘backstage’ space allowed flower-arranging, kitchens and serving areas, complete with locked silver vaults and walk-in china closets.
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Upstairs, you can pretend you’re a weekend house guest, and marvel at en suite bedrooms, all designed down to the last light switch and stair rod. Your manservant will be catered for too, of course.
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If you think that’s sumptuous, wait until you see Stephen and Ginie’s rooms. Ginie’s bathroom has gold mosaic; Stephen’s manly suite is full of tooled leather and magnificent marquetry.
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Take a look out of the window – you won’t want to miss two exquisite house-fronts incorporated into the new house. I had assumed they were 1930s faux-Tudor until I looked at some old photos in one of the rooms and saw how they had been painstakingly preserved.
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If you’re flagging at this point, it might be worth getting a cuppa and a cake or even lunch. There’s a teeny-tiny orangery tearooms serving snacks on the lawn that’s utterly charming – sit in one of the 1930s-style Lloyd Loom chairs – or, if you fancy something a bit more substantial, nip back to the entrance and find the new café, built into a greenhouse.
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On a dull day it’s pleasant to sit inside; on a sunny afternooon, there’s plenty of outdoor seating and yummy, yummy cakes.
While you’re there, do take a quick once-round the gift shop. It’s beautifully presented with lots of things you might actually want to buy (unlike many gift shops, which can be commercial and tacky…)
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There are food and drink tastings every day but beware. After tasting the all-butter raspberry curd, I just had to buy some on the spot.
While I’m on the subject, a little tip if you’re anywhere in the UK and planning to get edible souvenirs to take home. Anything that’s won a Great Taste Award will be worth taking seriously – I’ve never eaten anything that’s won one that hasn’t been delicious. You’ll be able to tell because it will have a little round sticker on it.
But back to Eltham Palace…
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There’s just a bit more of the house to see. There’s Stephen’s glorious office, full of maps and books and a fantastic leather wall chart of the area. But even more exciting is a new discovery – the Courtaulds’ map room. A few months ago conservators removed some paint from a wall in a closet, only to find a series of maps pasted to a wall. The wall itself was decorated with murals of exotic places. They had found the room Stephen and Ginie used to plan their world trips.
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English Heritage are fundraising at the moment so they can conserve the new discovery properly, but the public can peep inside and dream. Imagine being able to stick a pin in an atlas and say ‘I say, Darling, let’s go there!’ Sigh...
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The other new opening is the basement, where resides the poshest bomb shelter you will ever see. As regular readers will know, I love a good bomb shelter but I’d never seen one with a billiard table, leather armchairs and a record player before. Oh - and a Tudor fireplace. The Courtaulds continued to entertain during the war, but they needed safety, just like the ordinary folk down the road in their tin Anderson Shelters. This one follows the circular plan of the entrance hall upstairs.
As you go down the stairs, don’t miss the giant vacuum cleaner. The house had an internal cleaning system, where the maid would attach a hose to a hole in the wall and the basement machine would magic away all the dust.
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It is very easy to spend a day at Eltham – and I haven’t started on the grounds here which include original 1930s rose gardens, rock gardens, water features and magical woodland walks. There’s plenty to see, and if you time it right, there’s some splendid stuff to do, too. From art deco fairs, to jazz concerts, outdoor screenings to entire medieval re-enactments, there is a broad program of events that’s worth looking up before you go.
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As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy to get to from Central London without a car. About 25 mins from London Bridge station, go to MOTTINGHAM station and stroll up the hill, following the clearly marked signposts. If you are driving, there is parking at the palace itself.
Court Yard, Eltham, Greenwich, London, SE9 5QE
If you really want to make a day of it you might choose to go to Eltham station instead and, before catching a 161 bus, take a short walk along the road to another medieval treasure, the Tudor Barn, set in more wonderful gardens at Well Hall Pleasaunce. It was once the home of celebrated writer E Nesbit, who wrote The Railway Children, and is now a charming cafe. Don’t miss the ridiculously wobbly, wonky wall in the gardens.
Tudor Barn, Well Hall Pleasaunce. Well Hall Road, London, SE9 6SZ
For traveling on to Eltham Palace, the bus stop is just outside on the other side of the road.
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Eltham is often overlooked for the great palaces of Hampton Court and Kew on the west of London, but I promise that a visit can prove just as fascinating in its own way to lovers of both Tudor history and the brittle sophistication of Art Deco. Go on - give it a try...
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