Tea at Trianon: A Restored 16th-century Welsh Farmhouse

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

Monday, April 7, 2025

A Restored 16th-century Welsh Farmhouse

exterior of rural farmhouse with slate roof and porch

Austere, functional but beautiful. From House Beautiful:

Louisa and Lee Morgan's careful restoration of a 16th-century farmhouse in rural Wales evokes its original rustic charm. A former exterior wall is now a beautiful feature in the restructured hallway, while the tack room and workshop are unrecognisable as the pared-back, stylish, open-plan living space. And what's more, the views over the Monmouthshire countryside are to die for....Several small rooms were knocked together to form a long, open-plan living space with a marble-topped kitchen at one end. Original oak gateposts from the fields have been repurposed as window lintels, and a concrete-effect Italian light adds further texture against the smooth marble worksurfaces.
[...]
Louisa, who is marketing director for Mandarin Stone, used limestone floors thoughout much of the ground floor so that spaces flow naturally into each other: grey in the new rooms, warmer honey tones in the older part. A woven light by Amanda Rayner of Wyldwood Willow and lengths of raffia hung from the beams show the height of the ceiling. (Read more.)

open plan white painted living dining room with stone floor and woven ceiling shade