Tea at Trianon: A Georgian Cottage in Highgate

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

Friday, September 12, 2025

A Georgian Cottage in Highgate

Image may contain Banister Handrail Door Interior Design Indoors Corner Wood and Railing

Image may contain Furniture Bookcase Shelf and Home Decor

From House and Garden:

A cottage in the city is perhaps the ideal home if you want the best of both worlds, especially when that cottage is a charming Georgian house on the edge of leafy Highgate, with its elegant architecture and sweeping views of London. One of a terrace of listed houses, it is home to a young family who had already lived there for some years before they decided to remodel it. In need of a little help to refresh the house and make it a better fit for their lifestyle, they called in the architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath. Well-known for his ability to create comfortable, stylishly eccentric interiors that respect the fabric of old houses, Ben was a natural choice for the family, who were keen to preserve the building's considerable period charm.
Diminutive in scale, the house nevertheless has good proportions and "sensibly-shaped Georgian rooms", says Tamara Hales, interior designer at Ben Pentreath. With three children, the owners needed the house to be both functional and comfortable and were determined that the house retain an unpretentious, homely feel, in keeping with its relatively humble layout.
The house had been extended before, but only to give it a rather dark and unfortunate galley kitchen. The priority for Ben was to remove this and create a new lower ground floor kitchen with more space and light, plus a distinctive octagonal bay study in place of the old downstairs WC. Otherwise, original features were retained wherever possible; Tamara and her team painted pine floors and kept in Georgian shutters. (Read more.)

Image may contain Room Indoors Wood Furniture Chair Shelf Hardwood Interior Design Kitchen and Flooring