Winchester Mystery House

I went to visit Winchester Mystery House in San Jose recently, home of the widow of the heir to the famous Winchester rifle fortune. She was a bit eccentric (to say the least) and built a truly bizarre house. There was a very nice little mini exhibit of all the things that the Winchester company made in their heydey, and I drew these sketches there. I really love old handtools!

Cliveden visit

This weekend I went to Cliveden, a National Trust Property in Buckinghamshire. The grand Restoration era house (more of a large castley-villa) is now a private hotel, where you can also take meals. You get to the house up a long, wide gravel drive, past a magnificent marble fountain. In the 30's this was the home of Lord and Lady Astor, and there was a beautiful painting of Lady Astor by John Singer Sargent in the lobby. I explored a little, upstairs and downstairs, before lunch...

After lunch, a stroll in the gardens, to admire the parterre, and the house itself.There was a small group of re-enactment actors playing at being Lady Astor's crowd of socialites and celebrities, from 1934. How wonderfully English. They even had lemon drizzle cake...