Tea at Trianon: An Unusual Gothic Revival

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

An Unusual Gothic Revival

From House and Garden:

Among their many talents, Scott Maddux and Jo leGleud of Maddux Creative have a rare skill for adding a sense of drama to a project. This can be – and has been – expressed in a seemingly endless number of ways, from a dazzling gold sitting room ceiling to a bold juxtaposition of the very contemporary and the antique. A close relationship with top decorative paint specialists is a key part of their armoury.
The project on these pages might be seen as Maddux Creative’s magnum opus. As with the most successful undertakings, it was one that was shared, in this case with Jenifer and Kunal, the young couple who bought this house in north London and had plenty of ideas and ambition of their own.
Built in 1879 for the grand sum of £4,600, it is in the gothic revival style and has a commanding presence. The exterior bears some of the hallmarks of the style – from the pointed arches of the windows to the quatrefoil motif – and foreshadows what is to be found inside. It is no surprise to learn that it was once used as a location for a Hammer Horror-inspired episode of the BBC TV programme Inside No. 9; the review in The Times advised it was ‘best avoided by those of a nervous disposition’.
Jenifer and Kunal met as students at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, a stone’s throw from the gothic master-piece that is King’s College Chapel. During the summer, they would escape to Italy where they were taken by the country’s own versions of gothic and gothic revival architecture. Perhaps these memories were stirred when they came across this house for sale in 2013. ‘It was the only house that we viewed,’ recalls Kunal. ‘We walked in, loved it and knew that we had to buy it.’ (Read more.)